Inaugural Captioning Awards

Embargoed until 12noon, 23 November 2012

Mojo Mathers MP, TVNZ Access Services and SKY TV
receive inaugural Captioning Awards

Awards were today presented at the Langham Hotel in Auckland, recognising the hard work and commitment of individuals and organisations working to improve captioning in New Zealand.

Captioning is an essential communication tool for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, enabling access to programmes, entertainment and essential services. New Zealand however lags behind many other nations in the amount of captioning available.

The Captioning Awards, organised by the Captioning Working Group – whose members are non-profit organisations Deaf Aotearoa, the National Hearing Association and The National Foundation for the Deaf – brought together the non-profit sector, senior executives and Members of Parliament to recognise award winners in two categories: the TV Captioning Award, and the Captioning Ambassador Special Award.

The TV Captioning Award recognises a significant achievement in the establishment of captioning of television programmes or series, a single show, or an event, and was awarded to joint recipients: TVNZ Access Services and SKY TV.

The two recipients were recognised for their efforts in establishing significant, quality captioning, of programmes enabling access for people who are hearing impaired and Deaf.

The Captioning Ambassador Special Award was awarded to Mojo Mathers MP for her significant contributions towards the advancement of captioning in New Zealand. She has done more than any other individual to raise awareness amongst the general public of the need for access to captioning.

Our congratulations to the Award winners - their support of access for our communities is very much appreciated.

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