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Communications and Marketing: Web Services

Video Accessibility Resources

Last modified: March 9, 2021
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For people to enjoy your video and audio content (aka time-based media), these should be presented on your WordPress site using semantic headings and descriptions as well as captions, transcripts, and descriptive audio tracks.

Why? Presenting your time-based media content correctly means that people can access it on any device, the way they prefer and regardless of any accessibility requirements. For example, over 80% of people watch videos without sound on Facebook and Instagram.

It’s not only a requirement that all UAMS time-based media be published with captions, but it means people will actually stop scrolling to watch your video.

This page is intended to help you understand how to present your video and audio content so that people can access it easily. It’s easier than you might think.

Publishing Video and Audio Content

When we publish video and audio content we must consider that people may find these on our WordPress sites as well as the media hosting platform (YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, etc.). As such we must contextualize the content in both places.

Basic publishing guidelines:

  • In WordPress: Use semantic headings (H2, H3, etc.) for the video content section of a page or the page title if the video is the primary delivery modality.
  • Provide a short description of the content in the video on the WordPress page as well as in the post or description on the media hosting platform.
  • Add captions on the media hosting platform.
  • Include the full transcript or a link to the full transcript on your WordPress page and in the post or description on the media hosting platform.

When to Include Captions, Transcripts, and/or Descriptive Audio

Knowing when to include captions, transcripts, and/or descriptive audio tracks can be a little confusing. Use the questions and statements below to understand what is required to make your video accessible. Going through the list you may find that your video requires captions as well as a descriptive transcript.

Based on information from Planning Audio and Video Media Checklist from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative.

Visit “Captions, Transcripts, and Audio Descriptions” on the WebAIM website to understand each of these.

Video Content

Does Your Video Include Speech?

If your video includes speech or dialogue, you must provide captions that identify speakers, dialogue, and any important sounds.

Does Your Video Contain Visual Information Not Described by Dialogue?

If your video contains text, stepping through a process, charts and/or graphs, and these are not described in the dialogue, you need to include a descriptive transcript of the video or an audio description version of the video.

My Video Does Not Contain Speech or Other Audio

If your video does not contain speech or other audio content that is needed to understand the content, simply add a note on the media hosting platform and your WordPress page that captions are not included because there is no substantive audio content.

  • Example: a video that only shows a process but does not have dialogue or audio.

Audio Content

If your audio file does not contain speech or dialogue, simply provide a title or heading (H2, for example) and description of the audio content.

  • Content type: instrumental music or sound effects

If your audio file does contain speech or dialogue, provide a transcript and/or a descriptive transcript of the audio content.

  • Content type: podcasts, audio interviews, music with lyrics

Additional Video Accessibility Resources

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