When we make videos, we usually aim to inform, educate, or entertain as many people as possible. However, did you know that one in six people globally live with some form of disability that impacts how they access information? If we neglect video accessibility, we risk excluding a considerable chunk of our audience.
The good news: With a few simple adjustments, we can open our video content to more eyes and ears.
Quick Facts
- One in six people could benefit from more accessible video.
- Accessibility means better usability, discoverability, and audience reach.
- Make your videos accessible by providing accurate captions, audio descriptions and transcripts, and avoid flashing images.
Keep reading for the full scoop!
Contents
What Is Video Accessibility?
Video accessibility means ensuring as many people as possible can access and engage with your video content, regardless of their abilities or disabilities. This includes people with visual, auditory, cognitive, and physical impairments.
For example, someone deaf or hard of hearing will need captioning or sign language to supplement the audio track. A user who is blind would instead benefit from a high-quality audio description to replace visual elements like on-screen text, demonstrations, or scenes. Captions and subtitles are also crucial for people in noisy environments or with cognitive disabilities.
The goal is to remove barriers so all viewers, regardless of ability, can have a positive and comprehensive experience watching your videos.
Accessibility features are also useful beyond serving people with disabilities. Have you ever watched a video in a loud coffee shop, or with the sound off at work? A video in a language you’re still learning? Subtitles start to look pretty handy.
Reasons to Create Accessible Videos
There are some basic legal requirements, which we’ll go into more detail on later. Beyond that, though, there are several compelling reasons why every creator should strive to make their videos accessible.
Usability
Accessible videos remove barriers that prevent people with disabilities from accessing and understanding video content. With features like captions, descriptions, and alternative navigation options, people with varied abilities can experience the same content as others.
This also makes your videos watchable – or listen-able – in situations where people can’t fully immerse themselves, or don’t want to. If your TikTok, Reel or Short has subtitles or burned-in captions, people don’t have to flick past them in their feed when they can’t listen to them.
A descriptive audio track, on the other hand, is handy if the person can’t always look at the screen.
Also: Some devices – like smartwatches, head-up displays, smart speakers or recent AI pin gadgets have tiny screens and buttons or none at all. Here too, accessibility features for the visually impaired, or those who have difficulties using common input methods, are more widely useful.
Wider Reach
Approximately 28.7% of American adults have a form of disability that could impact how they interact with or understand multimedia. Videos with captions, descriptions, and other support open the door for these individuals to become fans and join conversations.
Infographic by CDC.gov
Improved SEO and Discoverability
Search engines are increasingly prioritizing accessible, user-friendly websites. Features like captions, audio descriptions, and usable player controls explicitly tell search algorithms about your video’s nature and content.
This added context helps search engines better understand and classify your video to match user intent. As a result, accessible videos tend to rank higher on search results pages and have a greater chance of being discovered by interested viewers.
Much the same goes for video platforms’ own algorithms: They have a far easier time figuring out content if we provide metadata like captions.
Legal Compliance
As video has become a dominant online medium, regulations around accessibility have strengthened. Laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and standards like Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide guidelines on making video player functionality and captions more compliant.
You might also need to conduct an audit for ADA compliance and web accessibility to ensure all your platforms are in compliance with the ADA and provide an inclusive experience for all your users.
If you run your own channels – an app, a website, even just a link-in-bio – looking into ADA guidelines may be useful even if it isn’t mandatory for you.
How ADA and WCAG Apply to Video Content
According to ADA and WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards, all pre-recorded video content on websites must have:
- Synchronized captions
- Audio descriptions for videos without visual context
- Support for keyboard navigation
- Support for assistive technologies like screen readers
Videos published on external sites like YouTube must also meet minimum accessibility standards. Failure to meet these guidelines can leave a creator open to legal complaints.
How to Make Videos Accessible
So, how do we actually go about making our videos more accessible? Here are some practical tips any creator can follow.
Add Captions
First off, captions allow deaf and hard-of-hearing users to follow along with your audio. These days, most video platforms make it very easy to add subtitles, even several tracks. To make them truly accessible, apply these best practices:
- Use open captions instead of closed captions: Closed captions may be missed by screen readers. Viewers might also have to switch them on first. “Burned-in” or open captions always show without needing to be turned on. You can offer closed captions additionally, though.
- Make sure captions are synchronized with the audio: Poor syncing makes captions difficult to read and defeats the purpose. Test your captions thoroughly!
- Provide accuracy: Where possible, have captions match the audio word for word to improve understanding. Automated captions often contain errors, especially with names and in less common accents (or languages!).
- Limit on-screen time: Don’t distract viewers with captions lingering after the audio ends or popping on too early. 2–3 seconds is a good maximum time on screen.
- Use easy-to-read fonts: Sans-serif fonts like Arial in light colors with good contrast against video backgrounds are highly legible.
While automated captioning saves time, the results are rarely accurate enough for accessibility compliance, especially when using free tools. Human-generated captions are still the best way to ensure your words – and your meaning – are conveyed effectively to all audiences. And: Only they are considered ADA-compliant (“Section 508”).
Outsourcing captioning does have its cost, but the investment eliminates legal risks and inclusion barriers.
Good captions are also a great basis for transcripts, more detailed audio descriptions – and for translated subtitles, which in turn make it easier to create multi-language audio tracks.
Provide Audio Descriptions
Audio descriptions allow blind and low-vision individuals to perceive visual elements through verbal explanations.
- Describe all content that isn’t described or discussed: Leave no gaps in understanding of graphics, settings, and actions occurring.
- Align the audio description with the video: Synchronize descriptions to prevent confusion over the timing in the described scenes.
- Consider extended descriptions: Include details beyond minimal compliance to make comprehension easier.
Add Transcripts
A transcript provides full text of everything said in the video and serves as an alternative format. They are typically very close to the original audio, or can be somewhat edited, but should be accurate. Most immediately, they improve discoverability for screen readers and search engines.
They can also offer more opportunities than captions. Viewers can easily return to previous information, or use the transcript to navigate to the most interesting parts of your video.
Transcripts also allow content to remain accessible even viewed outside a video player or without audio/visuals. Make sure to include a downloadable transcript file on your video page. It might seem like an extra step, but it opens your content to many more viewers.
Transcripts are fairly easy and not terribly expensive to outsource. If you have a channel management service, they might already be included.
Ensure Keyboard Accessibility
Think about anyone using assistive tech that relies solely on keyboard controls, like many people with vision or mobility impairments.
Make sure play/pause, volume, caption, and audio description controls are reachable solely through keyboard commands without a mouse click (or touch gestures, for that matter). This seems like a small thing, but it can entirely block someone out of your video if not set up properly.
Do some quick testing yourself – can you use the entire player experience just by tabbing through options and hitting enter or the space bar? If not, go back and tweak the coding to ensure all features are reachable solely by keyboard. It’s an often overlooked part of accessibility, but necessary for full inclusion.
Choose an Accessible Video Player
Luckily for creators, platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and others have done a lot of the heavy lifting in building accessible, standards-compliant players. Still, if hosting your own, choose a widely-used player that conforms to WCAG.
Accessible players have things like support for captions, audio descriptions, and keyboard control functionality built right in, no extra coding necessary. They also tend to work seamlessly across devices, and work better with search engines. No need to reinvent the wheel – focus your energy on the content instead.
Minimize Flashing Images
Here is one last, but very important recommendation: While flashy effects may seem engaging, rapidly flashing or high-contrast images and video can trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy.
At the very least, provide an explicit content warning, though you should really avoid unnecessary flashing if possible. This is about more than avoiding an unnecessary barrier – by considering diverse viewership, you can actively minimize the risk of harm.
The Bottom Line
Implementing basic video accessibility features goes a long way in including people with disabilities. With audiences demanding inclusive experiences, accessibility should be a priority for all video creators.
Let’s start making our video content accessible for everyone today!
FAQs
Lack of captions, poor descriptions, and non-compliant or customized players are common issues. Automated captions frequently contain many errors.
Use tools like a screen reader and disable CSS/JavaScript to quickly check the experience. Manual testing with captions/audio off also helps identify issues.
Ensure captions are added accurately during upload. Also, check audio descriptions, keyboard support, color contrast, etc. Get an accessibility audit done periodically.
