How to Create Accessible Videos?

In our journey into creating an accessible web environment, there are things that some web owners and developers can sometimes overlook. One of them is the accessibility of video content.

Users with different types of visual and hearing disabilities comprise a huge portion of the total active population. Based on research from the World Health Organization, globally there are at least 2.2 billion people who have a near or distance vision impairment. Also, by the year 2050 nearly 2.5 billion people are projected to have some degree of hearing loss.

Hearing and vision disabilities can vary in severity and type, but they have something in common – people suffering from them have a hard time understanding visual and sound content. Since video content is one of the main ways to convey a message in the modern world, it’s really important to consider its accessibility.

What are accessible videos?

Accessible videos have additional ways of providing information that the user with hearing or visual disability needs.

There are different types of features for accessible video - transcripts, captions, visual description, speech recognition software and a lot more.

The worldwide web content accessibility guidelines are established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). There are three levels of accessibility compliance with the guidelines and they also look at the accessibility of video content.

W3C outlines some of the key features in accessible videos like this:

•  Video content has captions.
  
  
•  Video content has transcripts.
  
  
• Video content has subtitles.
  
  
• Video content can be modified by the user regarding sound volume, pause, play, pause and stop functions.
  
  
• Video content has sign language interpretation.

The goal for accessible visual content is to convey the message of the video equally to everyone, despite their possible disabilities.

Why Do They Matter For Your Website?

When thinking about developing your website and whether to make accessible video content, one can’t ignore the statistics of global video “consumption”.

You should consider this – in the year 2022 video made up a total of 82% of all internet traffic globally. Video content is the main way we convey important messages, we experience different types of entertainment and it’s more and more a huge part of global education systems.

Having said that, inclusive video content is key to any website or online business. The more accessibility features you provide for users with disabilities, the more overall reach is going to increase. Sometimes captions on videos, for example, can be the thing that distinguishes you from your competitors online.

Who Benefits From Accessible Videos?

Making video content accessible not only benefits users with different types of disabilities, but is also useful for everyone.

People with disabilities that may require accessible video content are:

• Users with partial or full hearing loss;
• Users with partial or full blindness;
• Users who require assistive technologies to surf the web.

But overall, all users benefit from inclusive video content. Picture this for example: you are a student at the library. You need to do a quick online check for information, but that information is available only on video. The video has a full transcript and captions, so there is no need to turn up the volume and disturb other people in the library.

Like in the situation above, there are all sorts of moments where audio is not the best option. In those situations, all users benefit from your decision to include accessible videos.

How to Create Them?

The first important step is planning out your video content. If you decide early on to create accessible videos, then it will be easier to include accessibility features.

It’s important to have a script. Sometimes a storyboard is needed, depending on the accessibility features you want to implement.

Create Accessible Video Content

After you have an idea of what you want and how to achieve it, there are three steps you need to be careful of.

• Consider color and light distribution: Some people with visual disabilities can’t distinguish colors very well. That means any information, conveyed with the use of color will be lost to the user. This is the same with light distribution. If your video content is too light or too dark, it can impact the way the user experiences the video and gains the provided information.
• Don’t forget about the background noise: Background noise is a huge problem when shooting videos outside or in an audio polluted environment, such as a train station for example. Background noise can affect users with hearing disabilities and influence what they do and don’t hear. When shooting a video with dialogue or a person talking, the sound of the voice has to be easily distinguishable from all the other noise.

Also, don’t forget to consider the composition. Choosing the right composition for your video may be essential to users to understand the content. For example, if you plan on having a sign language interpretation, keep that in mind during the shooting process – no vital information should be conveyed in the field of where the interpretation will be.

Choose a Current Video Format For The Web

The right video format is essential for accessible videos.

The most widely used formatting for video online is MP4. When choosing an accessible format, it’s key to know if it’s compatible with all platforms and web players available.

Be sure to always go with the most widely used format.

Compression is also key. When compressing video files for web purposes, sometimes visual information is lost in the process. Developers have to be extra diligent as to not sacrifice any crucial information when compressing video content.

Choose an Accessible Video Player

After we have chosen our preferred format for the video content it’s time to decide which media player to use.

Regarding accessibility, there are a few things to watch out for:

• Be sure that the web player can be used with a wide variety of assistive technologies. Some users may use a console to control volume, play and stop. Others need screen readers that describe what is happening in the video.
  
  
• If you decide on an autoplay feature, be sure that the first 10 seconds of it are silent. Most assistive technologies need a little bit of time to “read” the page.
  
  
• Always keep the process of playing, pausing and stopping a video simple. Difficult controls on a web player can lead to problems for assistive technologies.

Most modern web browsers offer in-built web players, but they lack accessibility features. You need to make sure to choose an accessible media player that incorporates all the different specifics for people with disabilities.

Add Captions to Your Video

Let’s start off by saying that captions and subtitles are not the same thing. Subtitles are a text version of the video’s dialogue, happening on screen. Captions include text descriptions for the surrounding events, movements on screen, background noises, music, etc. They can also include extended audio description of all the noises happening in the video.

Having said that, most modern videos online already have captions. There are two types of captions – open captioning and closed captioning. The main difference is that closed captions can not be turned off and so they are a better option for making accessible video content.

Providing captions is also important because they can be read out loud by text-to-speech software for people with visual or learning disabilities. They can also be used by a wide variety of users, for example non-native speakers who can understand a language better when reading.

Conclusion

Accessible video content is videos made and distributed with people with disabilities in mind. There is a wide variety of techniques to make your video content more accessible, but they benefit users altogether.

Videos can be accessible in all sorts of ways – from implementing sign language interpretation, to adding subtitles and captions. It’s important to acknowledge the different assistive technologies used by people with disabilities.

Making videos accessible can set apart one web page from another and lead to significant increase in traffic.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is accessible video content?

Accessible videos are visual content with special features for people with disabilities.

Is it hard to create accessible videos?

Accessible videos are easy to create if you have a plan from the start and follow international guidelines.

Can accessible videos influence the reach of the website?

Accessible videos can influence overall reach on a website because they are beneficial to all users.