Legal

Deaf-owned verification standard

This is the public, human-readable mirror of the verification standard. A PDF copy for legal teams is provided on request.

The definition.

A Deaf-owned agency, for purposes of the Free Forever tier, is an agency where a Deaf, DeafBlind, or hard-of-hearing person — or a group of such persons — holds more than 50% of ownership interest and exercises operational control.

Documentation we accept.

State Deaf-owned business certification (where the state offers one).
SBA self-certification for a Deaf-owned small business.
NAD agency-member designation (where applicable to the agency's classification).
A sworn attestation by the owner — used where no state pathway exists. One page, plain English.

The board.

Fallon Brizendine (CDI, MA Interpretation, Gallaudet) plus two community advisors rotating annually. The community advisors are drawn from a pool with explicit standing in the Deaf agency-owner community. The board reviews every application within 5 business days. All denials are reviewed by the full board, not a single reviewer.

Edge cases.

See /free-for-deaf-owned for the public edge-case table covering CODA-owned agencies, mixed-ownership at 51%, Deaf-led nonprofits, hearing-allied agencies, and ownership-vs-operational-control situations.

Recertification.

Annual, light. Once a year we email: 'still owned by the same person/people? Reply yes.' Documentation is not required again unless ownership changed.

The line we want on the record.

We will get this wrong sometimes. When we do, the board reconsiders. The badge means something because we hold it to a standard, and the standard exists because the community asked for one.

Last updated: 2026-05-17. Questions: hello@madeby1891.com.