Video and audio-based media are great ways to share information digitally, although they can easily exclude people with visual or hearing impairments.
Here are some of the approaches we take to make video and audio content more accessible.
Transcripts
Transcripts are used for both video and pre-recorded audio files.
Transcripts help:
- People with visual or hearing impairments.
- People who are looking for specific information but do not want to watch a video or listen to audio.
- Search engine indexing.
As well as transcribing all verbal communication, be sure to include:
- The speakers' names.
- Non-verbal information in square brackets (e.g. [clapping]).
- "End of transcript" so people know they are not missing any other information.
Add the transcript to the same page as the video or audio, or make sure you provide a clear link to the transcript in a HTML format.
Detailed descriptions
While subtitles provide a written narrative of the dialogue, closed captions additionally provide a description of the non-verbal sounds within a video (e.g. soundtrack, background noise, sound effects).
While many video hosting platforms will automatically create a closed captioning option, it is important that this is proofed for errors before the video goes live.
User control
If you are including any audio or video files make sure you provide the user with media control buttons (pause/play and volume control).