Grant announcement — web accessibility

Towards the end of 2023 we tried something new. We ran a grant to contribute towards the accessibility of websites. We support an Internet that is accessible and inclusive, so it makes sense to use part of our .nz domain sales revenue to improve web accessibility in Aotearoa. 

We prioritised applications from charitable organisations that are disability-led and serve disabled people | tangata whaikaha, and whakapapa Māori organisations. We received over $1 million worth of funding requests in total and awarded 55% of the pūtea to tangata whaikaha-led organisations and 45% to Māori organisations. 

As the home of .nz, we would be very proud to say that .nz is fully accessible but we have a long way to go. Let’s celebrate these groups for the work they are doing towards achieving that goal.

Here is a full list of the successful grantees:

Digital Natives Academy

Digital Natives Academy encourages young people wanting to enter the digital tech industry the power to create/transform/shape/develop their own digital tools. They will work to improve the accessibility of their website to adhere to or exceed WCAG 2.1 and translate content into appropriate languages and Easy Read formats. $10,000.00

Te Hapori Matihiko

Te Hapori Matihiko are part of Te Ao Matihiko, an organisation focused on growing Māori in digital and tech. They are a community for Māori working in and aspiring to work in digitech. They are passionate about increasing Māori representation in the industry, as well as growing our capabilities and recognising Māori who do amazing things in digitech. They will work to implement accessibility remediation based on expert analysis and move their website to a more accessible platform. $10,000.00

Te Ohu Whakaita

Te Ohu Whakaita deliver a four-week festival of events to celebrate Matariki and build community. They will work to provide Te Reo Māori translation and an accessibility update for their website to bridge cultural gaps and promote inclusivity. $10,000.00

The Personal Advocacy and Safeguarding Adults Trust

The Personal Advocacy and Safeguarding Adults Trust support adults with disabilities and care and support needs in New Zealand. They will work to review and upgrade the accessibility features of their website including updating the navigation of their site and creating accessible/Easy Read style content. They also plan to train some of their team to confidently maintain the website’s accessibility going forward. $10,000.00

Deaf Way New Zealand

Deaf Way New Zealand is a new charity promoting and supporting New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) and the Deaf community. They will be working to incorporate NZSL effectively into their new website so it can be accessible for the community they serve and act as an example for others. $10,000.00

Taki Rua Productions

Taki Rua Productions is based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara and its kaupapa is to create and tour theatre in Te Reo Māori, to produce New Zealand plays for both Māori and tauiwi audiences, and to develop the Māori theatre workforce. They will provide an alternate version of their website completely in Te Reo Māori, with the option to switch between English and Māori with a click of a button. $5,175.00

SignDNA (Deaf National Archive New Zealand)

SignDNA (Deaf National Archive New Zealand) is the home of Aotearoa New Zealand's visual Deaf history. SignDNA is an online archive containing material and artefacts of cultural and historical significance to the Deaf community of Aotearoa New Zealand. They will translate and make available their website’s core content to Deaf people in their first and natural language, NZSL. Plus, an accessible video contact plug-in will allow Deaf and NZSL community members to contact them directly in NZSL, and submit their NZSL stories in their native language. $10,000.00

Burwood Academy Trust

Burwood Academy Trust produces and collaboratively shares research by engaging with individuals who experience a lifelong condition or disability, to foster a sense of empowerment and connection. They will undertake technical remediations to update their existing website’s accessibility, provide koha to usability testers, and train their team to maintain the accessibility of their website. $6,000.00

Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti Marae, Paikea Whitireia Trust

Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti Marae, Paikea Whitireia Trust – Whāngārā Mai Tawhiti marae stands as a testament to the rich culture of Ngāti Konohi. Paikea Whitireia Trust is a non-profit organisation comprised of whānau trustees descended from Ngāti Konohi. The Paikea Whitireia Trust serve as the kaitiaki for Whāngārā Marae. They will work to make the website available in Te Reo Māori and English, with translation by local expert Te Reo Māori translators within Ngāti Konohi, fluent in the unique local dialect. They plan to provide a chat option for whānau to be able to ask questions and receive a reply, as well as making the site accessible on all devices. $9,900.00

Independent Living Charitable Trust

Independent Living Charitable Trust – friendly community experts on all things related to disability and maintaining independence, helping to make daily living easier for people with disabilities and impairments, including families, whānau, 'āiga and support networks. They will start their accessibility improvements by working on adding alternate text to every piece of non-text content on their website, including over 61 standard pages, 66 blog posts, and over 750 product pages. $6,000.00

Recreate NZ

Recreate NZ provide life-changing experiences for young people with disabilities, by providing high-quality adventure, recreation, social and education programmes across Aotearoa. Having completed a survey with whānau and participants to identify accessibility issues they will work to redesign and implement accessibility improvements and conduct testing and prototyping to ensure the enhanced website is fit to serve the needs of the young people and their families. Technical consultants will pass over key knowledge to staff to ensure long term usability and ongoing maintenance. $9,985.50

Insight Endometriosis Charitable Trust

Insight Endometriosis Charitable Trust provide community support and quality evidence-based information/education for the one-in-seven women, teenage girls, and gender-diverse people impacted by this significant condition, and raise awareness in the wider community. They will work to translate information guides into NZSL as well as 24 others languages. $2,902.50