Community Guidelines

Last updated: 12 August 2026

DeafDiscovery exists to help people discover and support Deaf-owned businesses around the world.

These guidelines are here to keep DeafDiscovery useful, welcoming, and trustworthy for visitors and the businesses listed on the platform.

What "Deaf-owned" means on DeafDiscovery

DeafDiscovery is for businesses that are genuinely owned or run by Deaf people.

Businesses may reach DeafDiscovery in several ways:

• A business owner may submit their own business
• DeafDiscovery may add a business after research or direct contact
• A community member may suggest a business for us to review

Community suggestions are never published automatically. DeafDiscovery reviews them manually before a listing goes live.

DeafDiscovery does not currently operate a formal certification program for Deaf ownership.

If you believe a listing is inaccurate or should not be on DeafDiscovery, use Report an issue on the business profile. Reports are reviewed manually.

For business owners

Please help us keep DeafDiscovery accurate and useful. Business owners should:

• Provide accurate information about their business, location, services, availability, and contact methods
• Only upload photos, videos, text, and other content they have the right to use
• Make sure an owner introduction video accurately represents them and their business
• Let DeafDiscovery know if the business closes, changes ownership, moves, or important information changes
• Use Claim this profile if DeafDiscovery already has a listing for their business

Claiming a profile and being verified by DeafDiscovery are separate things. A successful business claim does not automatically mean that DeafDiscovery has formally verified every statement shown on the profile.

Reviews

Reviews should reflect a genuine experience with the business. Negative experiences may be shared honestly — DeafDiscovery does not require reviews to be positive.

Reviews must not contain:

• Harassment or targeted abuse
• Threats
• Hate speech
• Spam or scams
• Deliberately false or misleading content
• Personal information that should not be published
• Content unrelated to the business or the reviewer's real experience

DeafDiscovery may hide or remove reviews that violate these guidelines. Repeated or serious abuse may result in restrictions on using interactive features.

Listings and other content

DeafDiscovery may hide, correct, or remove content when appropriate, including when:

• A business does not appear to meet DeafDiscovery's Deaf-owned listing criteria
• Information is materially false or misleading
• A listing duplicates another business
• Content contains harassment, hate speech, threats, spam, scams, or other abusive material
• Content infringes another person's rights
• A business has permanently closed
• Keeping the content available would create a safety, legal, privacy, or trust issue
• An authorized business owner asks DeafDiscovery to remove or correct their listing

A report does not automatically remove content. Reports are reviewed before action is taken.

Reporting problems

If you notice:

• Incorrect business information
• A duplicate listing
• A business that may not meet DeafDiscovery's Deaf-owned criteria
• A closed business
• Inappropriate content
• A privacy concern
• Another problem with a listing

use Report an issue on the relevant business profile. DeafDiscovery reviews reports manually.

Contact without phone calls

DeafDiscovery is designed around communication methods that do not require visitors to make a phone call. Businesses can direct visitors to the communication, ordering, or contact methods they already use, including:

• Instagram
• Facebook Messenger
• WhatsApp
• Email
• Website

DeafDiscovery does not currently provide its own customer-to-business messaging, booking, or ordering system.

Community suggestions

Anyone may suggest a Deaf-owned business for DeafDiscovery to review. Suggesting a business does not automatically create a public listing. DeafDiscovery may:

• Review the suggestion
• Research available public information
• Contact the business where appropriate
• Reject duplicates
• Reject suggestions that cannot reasonably be verified
• Decide not to publish a suggested business

Questions or concerns

For questions about these guidelines, moderation, or DeafDiscovery: [WAVEIN_CONTACT_EMAIL]