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Sign language translation

New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) is one of New Zealand’s official languages. People in the Deaf community use NZSL to communicate.

See the latest guidance on sign language translation

This page is currently out of date — for the latest guidance on this topic, see Sign language translation — NZ Government (external link)^[L1].

Providing sign language translation

For many Deaf people, English is their second language and they are not fluent in it.

When you’re providing high-stakes information, it’s strongly recommended that you provide a sign language translation for both pre-recorded and live videos.

Examples of videos providing NZSL translation

These videos were created by EyeFilms (external link)^[L2].

Emerging ideas videos — Kōrero Mātauranga (external link)^[L3]

How sign language makes a video more accessible

Sign language provides access to video content for Deaf people in their first language, as they may find reading English more difficult.

Meeting the Web Accessibility Standard

When you provide sign language interpretation for a video, you meet WCAG’s Success Criterion 1.2.6 Sign Language (Prerecorded) (external link)^[L4]. This is a Level AAA requirement, which means that it’s not mandatory for meeting the NZ Government Web Accessibility Standard.

How to provide sign language in a video

For advice on NZSL translations for video, contact Deaf Aotearoa (external link)^[L5].

Testing the sign language in your video

Make sure that the NZSL translation has been approved by Deaf Aotearoa (external link)^[L6].

More information on Deaf culture and NZSL

Deaf culture and NZSL — Te Kete Ipurangi — Ministry of Education (external link)^[L7]

Links

https://govtnz.github.io/web-a11y-guidance/wct/videos/make-a-video-accessible/sign-language-translation.html
https://www.eyefilms.co.nz/
https://conversation.education.govt.nz/collateral-pages/emerging-ideas-videos
https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/sign-language-prerecorded.html
http://deaf.org.nz/
http://deaf.org.nz/
https://nzsl.tki.org.nz/Introduction/Deaf-culture

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Last updated 24 June 2021