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A video in New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) about a major Hamilton intersection upgrade is already receiving great feedback from the Deaf community.
Hamilton City Council and Waikato Regional Council (WRC) have funded the video to help inform the Deaf community about the Anglesea St and Bryce St intersection closure and temporary changes to bus routes.

The video was created by Sarah Mason from EyeFilms Studio who is a user of NZSL herself. Director of Eyefilms and Wordsworth Interpreting, Shannon McKenzie who assisted Sarah with the translation for the video says the Deaf population in Hamilton is significant with over 500 Hamiltonians believed to be users of NZSL.

“Deaf people think visually and in signs making their language very different to written English. A lot of people assume NZSL is just signed English and think Deaf people can read what they can’t hear. This is not always true. NZSL is three dimensional whereas English is linear so NZSL can do things that English can’t and vice versa” says Shannon.

The video has already received great feedback from members of the community and bus users, including deaf/hearing impaired persons living out of town and travelling into Hamilton from Te Awamutu.

“It’s great to see this information being made accessible for the Deaf community in Hamilton. It gives us the same access as the hearing community and allows us to be more independent. It’s great to see the Council including the Deaf community in this process. Small changes make a huge difference” Says Sarah from Eyefilms Studio.

Hamilton Mayor Paula Southgate is a keen supporter of sign language and has learned some herself to help her communicate more easily with the Deaf community.

“It’s encouraging to see Council staff proactively considering the needs of Hamilton’s disabled community when planning and communicating these projects,” she said.

“Our disabled citizens are entitled to fully participate in the life of our city and as the Council we need to make sure they can do that.”

To maintain ease of access during the closure, the Council and WRC’s BUSIT team have used other proactive communications to update commuters in the city.

As well as radio and newspaper advertising and social media promotions, the Council has been in touch with community groups explaining the changes to bus routes and details of the works taking place. Traffic management staff on site are working directly with pedestrians while the intersection is closed.

The Council’s Disability Advisor Judy Small has also been involved, helping get the message out to several disability groups.

“We always need to be aware that people take in information in different ways depending on their situation. This video is a great example of that” says Judy.

Check out the NZSL video or find out more about this project at hamilton.govt.nz/anglesea-bryce

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