Better Video and Audio

Interactions

Just as video content encompasses multiple senses, there are multiple ways people can use assistive technologies to perceive video and audio content. The prime example most people recognize are closed captioning of spoken and incidental sounds for viewers with auditory impairments. On the flip side, audio description of visuals and non-spoken activity are fabulous for people with visual impairments. Additional examples include transcripts of video content and variable speeds for video/audio content.

Solutions

Transcripts and closed captioning

Video closed captioning has come to benefit many beyond those with hearing impairments. For example, with the popularity of foreign television via streaming video hubs, many are using CC for interpreting accents.

Having video with closed captioning is the minimum requirement. However, the best practice is to create your video with both closed captioning and transcripts. Having both may seem redundant, but each fulfills different needs. For example, a video with flashing content can cause serious health issues for people who suffer from epilepsy or migraines. The transcript becomes the tool that provides the content for this video.

Audio Description

Some video projects will also need audio description. This is a supplemental audio track that describes the visual elements of the video if the primary soundtrack does not convey the content through spoken word. Action and character descriptions are two aspects most often shared in audio description.

Additional Tips and Notes

If you use external video for non-personal web projects, especially for education, government, or business purposes, it is important to find video that also meets these needs. The bottom line is everyone should be able to gain the content of the video or audio content.
Link to video transcripts should be easily identifiable and adjacent to the video.
Closed captions should reflect all sound that conveys content. This includes all relevant background noises and sound effects.
Ideally, users should be able to control the closed captioning during playback such as captioning color and size. Most online video hosts, such as YouTube, have these tools built in.
Do not use video that automatically plays when the webpage loads.

Testing

Accessibility testing tools are not as helpful for multimedia as the captions or transcripts are often embedded from off-site. Thus, manually check each of your videos or audio clips for these content aid features.

WebA11y: an intro to web accessibility