Accessible Audio & Video

Learn about audio and video accessibility and how to make your next video more inclusive

Carie Fisher (she/her) Director of Digital Accessibility at Testlio HCI Ph.D. Candidate at Iowa State University Author of Google’s “Learn Accessibility” course

Alternative Media Types

Captions Transcripts Audio Descriptions Sign Language Interpretation

Captions

Includes text synchronized with multimedia. Primarily for people who cannot hear the spoken words. Are considered either “open” or “closed” but are not subtitles.

Subtitles vs Captions

Auto-captions

“Some deaf people say auto-captions are NOT better than nothing. Some deaf people say automatic captions ARE better than nothing. Personally, I’d rather see no captions than watch automatic captions. Sure, I’m disappointed there aren’t captions but I avoid the painful experience of notoriously bad captions.” - Meryl Evans

Transcripts

Similar to captions but include more details and time-stamps. Text-based document of spoken words and speaker identification. Can include sound effects and other visual description.

Audio Descriptions

Include a narrator who explains visual information verbally. Convey visual info that dialogue and other sounds cannot. Primarily help people who are blind or have low vision.

Sign Language Interpretation

A video or live-stream of an interpreter. For many people who are Deaf it may be first/primary language. Can be cost-prohibitive to many organizations.

WCAG Requirements for Pre-Recorded Media

WCAG Requirements for Live Media

Demo Recap

Create and upload media or host a live-stream. Allow time for the file to be processed. Modify captions manually or upload an externally generated media or live-stream caption. Review captioning results and download the transcript.

WCAG Requirements for Pre-Recorded Media Captions

WCAG Requirements for Live Media Captions

Thanks!

Slides: noti.st/cariefisher Article: web.dev/learn/accessibility/video-audio LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cariefisher Mastodon: mstdn.social/@cariefisher Twitter: twitter.com/cariefisher