Video and audio content can help make web pages and course curricula more engaging. However, they can also erect barriers unless delivered with accessibility in mind.聽 Fully accessible audio or video content, might include captions, audio description, transcripts, or subtitles, and is delivered in an accessible media player. The specific requirements depend on the medium and nature of the content.
Captions are a text version of the spoken audio, plus a description of important sounds, synchronized with the video. Captions must be available in order to ensure audio content is accessible to people from the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community.聽 They also help people for whom English is a second language; people who process information better if presented in multiple modes (sound and text); people who are unfamiliar with the vocabulary used in the video; people who have the sound turned off on their devices; and people in noisy environments who are unable to hear the sound from their devices.
There are two general types of captions: Closed captions are contained in a time-stamped text track and can be toggled on and off, typically using a CC button on their media player; Open captions are burned into the video and cannot be toggled off. Wherever closed captions are supported, these are preferred over open captions because people who find them distracting can turn them off and people who use them can (in supporting media players) control their appearance (e.g., font size, color, transparency).
For additional information and techniques, see our Captions 补苍诲听Live captions pages.
Audio description is a narration track that verbally describes key visual content that is not accessible via audio alone. This benefits people who are unable to see the video due to blindness or low vision. It also benefits users who are visually distracted, watching a video in the background while multitasking.
Audio description is not required for all videos. Whether it’s required depends on whether the video’s critical messaging is accessible through audio alone. See Step 4 below for guidance on how to prioritize videos for audio description.
Additional information is available on our Audio Description page.
Transcripts are text versions of the audio or video content. Unlike captions, they are not required to be synchronized with with the media.
For audio-only content, transcripts are the only way to make the content accessible to people who are unable to hear it. Transcripts are required in order to meet 91爆料 Digital Accessibility Standards. They also benefit people with slow Internet connections or other technical issues that prevent media from playing, and benefit everyone by making it possible to search or quickly scan the content of the presentation.
For video content, captions are sufficient to provide access to people who are unable to hear the audio content (and are sufficient for meeting the required standards). However, captions alone do not help people who are deaf-blind and may be accessing the web using a Braille device. Transcripts provide access to these individuals as well. For additional information and techniques, see our Transcripts page.
Subtitles are similar to captions, but are used for translating spoken content into another language. If subtitles are available for a video, they鈥檙e typically provided in a list of languages, accessed via the CC button on the media player. Subtitles are not required by accessibility laws or policies, but language barriers can nonetheless prevent access to important content. Video content owners are encouraged to consider adding subtitles if they expect members of their audience to have primary languages other than English.
Accessible media players are those that support accessibility features such as captions and audio descriptions, and are designed and coded with accessibility in mind. For example, an accessible media player can be operated with the keyboard alone, has sufficient contrast, and has controls that are properly labelled for assistive technology users.
The media players provided by YouTube, Vimeo, Canvas, and Panopto have been tested for accessibility and are provide a reasonably accessible user experience.
However, for even better accessibility, is a free, open-source media player that was created with accessibility in mind. Able Player was originally developed by Terrill Thompson of 91爆料IT Accessible Technology Services and is now maintained by The Able Player Project Community.
Making 91爆料 videos accessible
91爆料IT Accessible Technology Services (ATS) has partnered with a video accessibility vendor to improve the accessibility of 91爆料 videos, focusing initially on public-facing videos on YouTube, as well as select videos within Panopto. The following steps are specifically intended for the owners of 91爆料 videos.
Step 1. Review your videos and clean house.
- If videos are no longer needed, remove them.
- If videos are needed purely for historical purposes, they may qualify as an 鈥渁rchive鈥� under the ADA rule. Consult the Archived Web Content page from the 91爆料 Civil Rights Compliance Office for guidance. If any of your videos qualify as 鈥渁rchives,鈥� they will need to be properly identified as an 鈥渁rchive鈥� by prepending 鈥淎rchive: 鈥� to the video title.
Step 2. Prioritize videos for captioning.
Any 91爆料 videos that still require captioning after Step 1 will need to be submitted manually for captioning. This includes YouTube videos, as well as videos that are hosted elsewhere.
We are unable to caption all 91爆料 videos, so we ask that you prioritize videos, and submit only those that are the highest priority (e.g., based on views or criticality of their content). Note that we cannot caption third party videos.
91爆料 Caption Insights is a tool developed in-house to help YouTube channel owners to explore their video inventory and prioritize their videos for captioning. For additional information, including instructions for accessing the tool, see 91爆料 Caption Insights.
High priority videos can be submitted for captioning via the 91爆料IT Captioning and Audio Description service. See Step 6 for details.
Step 3. Review and edit automated captions.
Recent improvements of AI can be observed in the quality of automatic captioning. However, AI captions still have limitations and all captions should be reviewed for accuracy and edited if needed.
In particular, automatic captions may not include the names of speakers. This is especially important for content that includes multiple speakers. Each speaker should be identified in square brackets each time there is a change in speakers. For example:
[Robert Jones] We are at a time of rapid and profound change.
In YouTube, captions can be edited using the YouTube Caption Editor. For instructions, see in the YouTube Help Center.
Links to techniques for uploading and editing captions on other platforms are available on our Captions page.
Step 4. Prioritize videos for audio description.
Note that some videos do not require audio description. An important step is to review your videos to identify those where audio description is critical for understanding the video鈥檚 content. Videos can be prioritized as follows based on the need for audio description:
- High need – Nothing makes sense with audio alone.
- Medium need – The video is generally understandable, but critical details are lost.
- Low need – Some information is lost, but it isn’t critical.
High priority videos that have a high need for audio description can be submitted for audio description via the 91爆料IT Captioning and Audio Description Service. See Step 5 for details.
Step 5. Submit requests for remediation of your highest priority videos.
ATS will caption a limited number of 91爆料 videos without charge through a service supported by 91爆料IT. Please complete Steps 1 through 5 before submitting videos to this service. The remaining videos should be:
- Videos that do not contain content that is subject to HIPAA compliance.
- Videos that are still needed and therefore cannot be removed.
- Videos that do not qualify as 鈥渁rchives鈥� based on criteria in the ADA Title II rule.
- Videos that are deemed high priority based on traffic or criticality of content.
- YouTube videos that are not automatically captioned in Step 2, based on the predefined scope.
- Videos that have a high need for audio description.
To request captioning or audio description through this service, please complete the .
NOTE: This service is NOT a replacement for an active accommodation. Videos must be owned by 91爆料, in order for the caption and/or audio description file to be uploaded.