Seven awarded for caption services

Channel Seven was awarded this week for its closed caption services by the Deafness Forum of Australia.

Seven was acknowledged twice with The 2008 Award for Free-to-air Television Captioning for services “above and beyond” in captioning. And The Members Choice Award was won for Seven’s captioning of Sunrise. The latter is considered significat given it is voted for by Forum members themselves.

Seven also operates Austext, which carries news, finance information, weather, lottery results, a TV guide and other information. This is conducted from Brisbane’s broadcast centre.

Press Release:
The Seven Network has been recognised for excellence in the provision of captioning services across its programming in Australia.

Nominated in a number of award categories in the 2008 Deafness Forum of Australia Captioning Awards in Sydney last night, Seven was recognised in the two major categories:
• The 2008 Award for Free-to-air Television Captioning – awarded to a Free-to-air channel for excellence in captioning above and beyond the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission agreement on services, and in line with the Captioning Quality Guidelines.
• The 2008 Members Choice Award – which reflects the votes of members of the Deafness Forum of Australia for their favourite or most valued captioned program.
The Members Choice Award was won by Seven for its captioning of Sunrise.

The Members Choice Award is a significant recognition – with the award nominated by, and voted for, by our deaf and hearing impaired viewers.

The awards recognise Seven Network’s long term commitment to, leadership in, and dedication to the provision of captioning services in produced and live programming, including sports coverage and news and public affairs.