All-of-government process for creating alternate formats

Whaikaha runs the all-of-government process for producing alternate formats.

The five alternate formats are:

• New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL)
• Large Print
• Braille
• audio
• Easy Read.

The term ‘alternate’ means these formats are a different way of providing information to specific communities. We do not use ‘alternative’ as it implies a choice.

Alternate formats are not a choice or a nice-to-have. For many people, they are the only option to access information.

Whaikaha’s accessibility team coordinate with the alternate format providers on your behalf. To begin the process of creating alternate formats for your project, who you can contact them at accessibility@whaikaha.govt.nz.

Please read the below information before requesting alternate formats.

Accessible from the beginning

All documents should be written with accessibility in mind from the start.

This makes translating documents into alternate formats easier and avoids costly and slow remediation and retrofitting.

Ways of ensuring documents are born accessible include:

• clear heading structure
• plain language
• active voice instead of passive voice
• no jargon
• adequate font size and line spacing
• sans-serif fonts
• high contrast colours.

Alternate formats should be provided when information:

• is for disabled people
• affects access to rights or responsibilities
• affects decisions, payments
• is confidential, personal, or legal
• is for consultation or surveys
• has been requested in an alternate format.

Note: when alternate formats are to be provided, all five formats are required. This ensures disabled people have equal access to government information on policies, initiatives, and programmes.

Requesting alternate formats

You need complete the form for requesting alternate formats at the bottom of this page and email it with your document(s) in Word document format (.doc or .docx) for translation/transcription to accessibility@whaikaha.govt.nz. Tips for completing the alternate formats request form are at the end of this webpage.

We work with the 3 Disabled People’s Organisations on the alternate formats advisory group and providers to provide you with:

• cost estimates
• timeframes
• any recommendations about the content, such as providing extra context for specific audiences.

We will keep you informed on progress and get your approval at key stages, including for costs and final products. You will be invoiced separately by each provider.

Please engage early, as alternate formats take time to produce. We can provide you with initial advice about the process and getting a document ready for translation/transcription, which will save you time and make the process smoother.

Once we receive your request, we can determine how the work is prioritised and initial timeframes.

If information is missing or documents are not provided in the format required, we will return the request with feedback on how you can make your document ready for alternate format production. 

What happens after your documents and form are sent

Once the team receives the completed request form and all relevant attachments in a reviewable format (Word document, no images without alternate text, etc), we can begin the production process.

Step 1: Feedback and costs

Providers may have feedback on your document outside of the accessibility team’s advice, which you will need to address.

The providers will provide estimates or quotes for the work, unless significant changes to the document are required first.

Generally, advice and costs will be provided within 10 working days of receiving a reviewable document. This may take longer if there are multiple documents in your request.

Costs for the work will be emailed to you. These may come directly from the providers. You will get a separate estimate or quote for:

• Easy Read
• NZSL
• Blindness formats – audio, Braille, and Large Print (if there is a cost).

You need to respond and accept the costs before production can start.

Timeframes will be agreed once the costs have been accepted and will depend on current work priorities.

There are 3 levels of prioritisation.

• Risk: direct and immediate public health risk to disabled people. For example, pandemic management and civil emergencies.
• Impact: direct and immediate impact on access to rights and services for disabled people. For example, health, legal, employment, or financial services, or government inquiries.
• Contribution: Access and contribution to civic life. For example, contributing to surveys or access to government reports.

Other factors that drive prioritization and timeframes include:

• relevance to, and impact on disabled people
• final due dates
• provider capacity
• size and complexity of the job.

Step 2: Production

Production will start once costs have been accepted, the final documents have been received, and there is space in the production queue. Production typically takes 4 to 6 weeks.

If you make any changes to the content after production has started, there may be additional costs and timeframes could change as the work may need to start again.

Step 3: Final translations/transcriptions

The completed translations/transcriptions will be sent to you for uploading on your website. Your website administrator will be able to put these on your site.

New Zealand Sign Language 

These are large video files. They are provided via ‘WeTransfer’, ‘Vimeo’, or a similar platform for you to either download or link to. You may need to ask your IT team to allow you to access to the platform.

Because these are a translation of existing content for NZSL users, they do not include captions. Captioning of general videos is a different mechanism and can affect accessibility for NZSL users. If needed, we can refer you to an agency that does this.

We recommend putting NZSL videos on your website alongside the English text. If your agency uses a video hosting service (for example, YouTube or Vimeo), upload your NZSL videos to that service. The video can then be embedded into your website. If your website does not support embedding a video, a link to the video on YouTube or Vimeo can be used instead, but the link must be clearly labelled with the words ‘NZSL’ and a Sign Language image/symbol. For further advice please contact your translation provider.

Braille 

Transcriptions are emailed as a ‘Braille Ready File’ (BRF). This file format is accessible to Braille readers who use an electronic Braille device. The file needs to go on the website exactly as it is. If your website does not support BRF file formats, it can be added as a Zip file.

Audio 

These files come as MP3s and/or wav files. Sometimes they are large and may be provided via ‘Dropbox’, ‘WeTransfer’, or a similar platform.

Large Print 

These documents are emailed to you as a Word file. Some providers may send a PDF version as well. Audio and Braille are often produced based on finalised Large Print content. You may need to sign-off on the Large Print version before the file can be passed over to the producers of Audio and Braille.

Easy Read 

Documents are provided as Word and PDF files. Both versions need to be available on your website.

Step 4: Share the information

You need to make sure the documents are easy to find on your website and that disabled people are aware there are alternate formats available. Many disabled people are digitally excluded and don’t have reliable access to the internet and digital information. It is important to plan how you will get the information to the community and consider how people can access hard copies of your information. The Alternate Formats Group can provide advice on this.

Sharing the alternate formats

Please provide us with a link when the resource is live. The Disabled Peoples Organisations (DPOs) we work with can provide a link to the final information on their websites and/or newsletters.

HTML format on your website

Where you provide documents on your website, the information should also be provided in HTML. This means the base or full document used to produce the alternate formats is available in HTML. Some agencies may also choose to provide the Easy Read version in HTML.

In HTML format, use alternative text for graphs and diagrams that contain important information. Decorative images are not needed. If it is a complex image such as a detailed graph, then provide a full-text explanation below the image.

In Easy Read documents, each image is provided to help the reader understand the idea in the sentence located next to it. Images on the first page of an Easy Read document should be included in the HTML version of the Easy Read document, but other images are decorative and should not be included. For more information go to the Department of Internal Affairs: Providing content in alternate formats

Videos

If you are producing videos for a general audience (that is, not a NZSL video), make sure there are captions, a transcript, picture-in-picture or in the frame (NZSL), and audio description.

As an alternate format, NZSL videos are a translation of content already provided in another language, and in most cases, another format. No captions are required as there is no speech in the NZSL translation to caption. For more information go to the Department of Internal Affairs: Providing content in alternate formats

Completing the alternate formats request form

Ensure the form for requesting alternate formats is fully completed before sending it to us. This includes the checklist, invoicing information, contact person and logo(s). If something is not applicable or being clarified, specify this on the form.

Clearly list all documents that will be translated/transcribed.

Download the Form for requesting alternate formats (DOCX 3.7MB)

Send the completed form accessibility@whaikaha.govt.nz.

If working from a long document, provide a Microsoft Word document with an executive summary with the key information, generally of 4 to 10 pages. This summary is generally what will be translated into Easy Read and NZSL. For Blindness formats (Large Print, Audio and Braille), we often transcribe the full report and the summary – this will be considered on a case-by-case basis. 

As context, also provide the full document as a Word file.

Include a web address where your audience can go to get more detailed information.

For surveys and other feedback processes, you will need to provide a contact point your audience can use if they have questions. This includes:

• a web address
• an email address
• a free-call number (including hours of operation)
• a text number for Deaf and hard of hearing
• NZ Relay.

All these contact options are required for the process to be accessible.

Dates for completion are determined based on the priority of the work and capacity of providers. To help determine timeframes, it is important we know the dates you are aiming for. If the date is flexible, please indicate the timeframes you are looking at. We need dates to prioritize work.

We will do our best to meet your timeframes, but this may not be doable if we do not receive the final document and approval of costs early enough, or if capacity is limited by other priority work.

If copying information from a website, check the final document before sending it to us. Formatting can change and symbols can be added to the text when copying into Word.

We only accept Word documents – we cannot accept PDF versions of documents. Documents for translation/transcription must:

• be the final version with no tracked changes
• use plain language – avoid jargon, acronyms, technical words, and unnecessary detail
• provide enough context so your audience understands where the information is coming from and its purpose
• include a clear and consistent heading structure using Word ‘Styles’ options (accessed in the ’Home’ ribbon)
• use a strong sans serif font (such as Arial or Verdana)
• use a 12-point font with 1.5 line spacing for body text
• not have information in tables or graphs – use lists instead if the information is needed
• use pictures or images sparingly (other than logos) and only with alternate text or a text description of the information the image conveys.

We suggest you run the accessibility checker in Word (in the ‘Review’ ribbon) before sending any documents included with the request form.

For more information on plain language see  Checklist for plain language - a quick reference guide - Ministry of Social Development external URL .