About DeafMetrix
Built for Decisions That Actually Matter
DeafMetrix exists to address a structural gap in how organisations design systems, make decisions, and assess risk.
While inclusion is often treated as a values exercise or communications issue, DeafMetrix works at a different level inside decision-making, system design, and governance, where inclusion either holds under pressure or quietly fails.
Our work is grounded in a simple reality:
most Deaf exclusion is not intentional.
It is inherited.
Sound-first assumptions become embedded in products, platforms, services, campaigns, and policies and no one is incentivised to question them until something breaks.
DeafMetrix exists to make those assumptions visible before they become costly.
Our Perspective
Most organisations still frame Deafness as an individual access issue.
We treat it as a system signal.
When a system fails Deaf users, it reveals deeper truths about how decisions are made, whose needs are prioritised, and where risk accumulates unseen.
That makes Deaf exclusion a powerful diagnostic lens; not just for accessibility, but for system quality, resilience, and trust.
This perspective shapes how we work.
We focus on:
real processes, not policies
decision points, not intentions
outcomes, not statements
Because that is where organisations succeed or fail.
“I founded DeafMetrix because I got tired of hearing the same excuse
that exclusion was ‘unfortunate but complicated’.
It’s not complicated. It’s systemic.
And if we can design rockets, driverless cars, and global AI systems,
we can design inclusion properly too.
”
What Makes DeafMetrix Different
DeafMetrix is Deaf-led, but its value is not symbolic.
It comes from combining:
Deaf lived expertise
systems thinking
commercial awareness
operational and governance realism
This allows us to work credibly across:
product and digital teams
brand, marketing, and communications
operations and transformation programmes
procurement, risk, and leadership forums
We are not an external commentator.
We are a working partner inside complex systems, helping organisations see what their systems are actually doing in the real world.
How We Work With Organisations
DeafMetrix adapts to how organisations actually operate.
We may be engaged as:
a project partner on a specific system, product, or campaign
embedded support within teams during delivery or transformation
an advisory partner for high-risk or high-visibility decisions
a retained capability providing ongoing review and insight
The format changes.
The standards do not.
Our role is always to:
surface assumptions others miss
test systems under real conditions
support better decisions upstream
Deaf Leadership and Decision Quality
Deaf leadership at DeafMetrix is not about representation.
It directly improves decision quality.
It changes:
what gets tested
which risks are recognised
how trade-offs are evaluated
what gets escalated early
By making exclusion visible sooner, organisations avoid discovering it later — when the cost is higher, the response is reactive, and credibility is harder to recover.
Who We Work Best With
We work best with organisations that:
operate at scale or under scrutiny
manage complex systems or public trust
care about credibility, not optics
want inclusion to stand up to challenge
Often, organisations engage us:
before a major launch
during growth or transformation
after a near-miss or uncomfortable question
when decisions carry reputational or legal weight
The strongest partnerships start before failure becomes visible.
Our Aim
DeafMetrix exists to make Deaf inclusion structural, not symbolic.
Not louder. Not performative. Embedded, measurable, durable.
We redesign the rules, tools, and institutions so access is built in — not bolted on. When systems are engineered to work for Deaf people from the start, they work better for everyone.
We don’t do gestures. We deliver architecture: policy, technology, media, and services rebuilt around real needs, backed by data and accountability. The result is access that lasts, scales, and cannot be ignored.
Founder’s Story
Helen Thomas is the founder of DeafMetrix, a Deaf-led strategic consultancy that helps organisations redesign systems that quietly fail Deaf people — and the organisations that depend on them.
Helen holds a first-class law degree and an MBA, bringing sharp analytical thinking into strategy, operations, governance, and risk. But what truly defines her work is how she sees. She combines rigorous systems thinking with creativity, storytelling, and cultural intelligence — moving comfortably between boardroom decisions and brand-shaping ideas.
As a Deaf leader, Helen has developed an instinct for spotting what others overlook: where meaning breaks down, where communication quietly excludes, and where design choices send unintended signals. That perspective gives her a unique edge not only in system redesign, but in marketing, campaigns, humour, and narrative — the spaces where brands connect (or fail to) with real people.
Her work is deliberately industry-agnostic. Whether shaping a product, testing a digital journey, advising on a campaign, or challenging a strategic decision, Helen applies the same lens: remove sound, follow the logic, and see what the system is really doing. That approach consistently surfaces risks, gaps, and creative opportunities others miss — not because they lack care, but because they’re designing from inherited assumptions.
Helen founded DeafMetrix after repeatedly encountering the same pattern across industries: inclusion efforts that looked impressive on paper but fell apart in execution because Deaf realities were never part of the baseline. DeafMetrix exists to close that gap — not through awareness or compliance, but through measurable system redesign, bold creative thinking, and decision intelligence that actually lands.
She works with organisations at moments that matter: before major launches, during growth or transformation, when reputational stakes are high, or when a product, campaign, or experience needs to resonate — not just tick boxes.
At its core, DeafMetrix reflects a belief Helen brings to every engagement:
When people who understand exclusion from the inside are shaping decisions, systems become clearer, stories become smarter, and brands become braver.
A Quiet Truth
Every organisation already makes decisions about access.
The only question is whether those decisions are examined —
or simply inherited.
DeafMetrix exists to make them visible.