Women of YouTube: Rikki Poynter

By Julianne San Antonio

When it comes to deaf awareness and rights, Rikki Poynter is not one to shy away from the camera. The 24-year-old Deaf YouTuber initially began as beauty vlogger before finding her calling in speaking out about deaf culture and lifestyle. To this day, her channel, RikkiPoynter, has amassed nearly 24,000 subscribers.

When she isn’t uploading videos, Poynter is constantly spreading messages of deaf awareness across all social media platforms. One of her most recent initiatives is #LightsCameraCaption, a campaign to get other YouTubers to add closed captions to their videos, making them more accessible for their deaf, Deaf, and hard of hearing viewers.

During this year’s Buffer Festival in Toronto, our online editor, Julianne San Antonio, had the chance to sit down with the YouTuber to discuss her campaign as well as common misconceptions surrounding the d/Deaf/HoH community.

Stay tuned to McClung’s for more interviews with some of your favourite YouTubers, including Meghan Tonjes and Raya Encheva.