We are Able
We’re a not-for-profit organisation working towards a more inclusive Aotearoa. We believe everyone should be able to access news, entertainment and culture. Funded by NZ On Air, we’re Aotearoa’s leading provider of media access services, including captioning services, subtitling and audio description.
Our vision & mission
Our vision is for a New Zealand where everyone has equal access to audiovisual media.That includes the 880,000+ members of the Deaf or hard of hearing community, the 180,000+ people who are blind or have low vision, and those who rely on subtitles to help improve literacy or navigate English as a second language.
Our mission is how we’re achieving our vision; through our work as New Zealand’s leading provider of captions, subtitles and audio description.We provide our services for Television (TVNZ, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sky Open), film, film festivals and government. Led by a passionate team of wordsmiths and linguists, we have a unique focus on local content and authentic New Zealand voices.
A history of media
accessibility in New Zealand
1960
New Zealand's first official television transmission.
1981
Funding for Teletext and captions raised through Telethon.
1980s
Teletext and captions are first launched on TVNZ.
1991
Introduction of live news captions.
2011
Audio description (AD) pilot begins.
2011
AD officially launches.
2013
Able is born as an independent charitable trust.
2014
Channels carrrying captions expand even further, to include Sky and MediaWorks.
2016
Captions are introduced to TVNZ OnDemand.
2020
Thanks to a funding boost from NZ On Air, captioned and audio described output increases, including the introduction of live captions on TVNZ's Breakfast.
2022
In partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, Able launched live captions and audio description on Channel Three!
2023
Thanks to funding from The Ministry of Culture & Heritage, Able launched Earcatch in Aotearoa - an app to enable blind and low-vision New Zealanders to stream content on TVNZ+.
2023
The list of content that Able makes accessible continues to grow. Over the past three years alone, we have achieved an increase of 61% in caption production and an increase of 181% in audio-description production for free-to-air TV!
1960
1981
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1991
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Our commercial services
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Need fast, accurate and cost-effective captioning services for TV commercials on TVNZ 1, TVNZ 2, Three, Duke and online?
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Need movie, film festival, website, social media or YouTube captioning services?
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Need world-class audio description, to help make your content accessible to the 10% of the population who is blind or has low vision?
Our People
Want to find out more about media accessibility?
We'd love to hear from you.