Make Video & Audio Accessible

Accessible video and audio files are media content that can be used, played, and understood by everyone. They have captions and transcripts of audio, descriptions of visuals, and media players that work with different technologies.

Video and audio can be made accessible when created with tools that support captions, and share on players or platforms with accessible design.

Learn more in Multimedia Accessibility Basic Training (U-M Canvas).

Best Practices

The best practices below apply to video and audio in general.

Captions

Captions are a text equivalent of audio, shown at the same time as the audio (usually a few lines at a time).

Add captions to your content by using a vendor for professional captioning or generating automatic captions with human review.

Evaluate captions for quality based on the following features:

  • Captions are synchronized with the video and audio content
  • Captions use correct grammar and punctuation
  • Speaker labels indicate who is speaking
  • Captions convey important background sounds and music

Learn more about captions best practices.

Professional Captioning

You can get accurate captions by working with a vendor to generate professional captions. Different services will have different costs and turn-around times. You can compare the features and costs of different captioning services.

Automatic Captions with Human Review

MiVideo and Canvas

Automatic captions are generated when new content is uploaded to MiVideo. Review and edit captions for accuracy.

Editing Captions in MiVideo

Automatically generated captions will need to be edited for accuracy. You can edit automatically generated captions in MiVideo.

Exporting Captions from MiVideo

You can download MiVideo captions and use them if you upload your media content to a different platform.

YouTube

YouTube auto-generates captions that can be edited for accuracy. You can also upload captions to YouTube from another source.

Zoom

After a Zoom meeting or event, you can include and edit captions and a transcript for the video recording.

Vimeo

Vimeo does not provide automatically-generated captions. However, you can upload captions to add to your content.

Transcripts

Transcripts are a stable text version of audio or video content. They usually have the same content as captions, but are available independently and asynchronously. Many media players convert captions into transcripts for you.

If your audio player does not allow captions, provide a separate, stable transcript.

Creating Transcripts

Transcripts can be created from a script, automatically generated and edited, created from captions, or professionally transcribed.

Descriptions of Visuals

Descriptions, also called audio descriptions, provide information about visual elements of a video. This is especially important for people who are blind or have a visual disability who may not be able to see visual content or text in a video.

Include Descriptions in Original Audio

For videos such as a lecture recording or a screencast, include descriptions in the original audio by having the speaker describe important visuals. For example, the lecturer can describe their slides as they present. The voiceover narration can describe actions in the interface as they happen.

When these techniques are used, no additional description is required.

Professional Audio Descriptions

You can use a vendor for professional audio descriptions.

Create Descriptions Yourself

For very short media, such as a social media post or a welcome message, provide description in text separate from the video and posted nearby (on the same page or social media post).

For longer videos, description can be written in a separate document, like a transcript.

Accessible Media Players

When deciding what media player to use for your content, it is important to select a media player that is accessible. Some essential accessibility considerations for accessible media players include:

  • Keyboard and screen reader accessible: You must be able to navigate through and use all of the media player controls via keyboard and with a screen reader.
  • Supports captions and audio descriptions: Captions and audio descriptions previously added to a video will be presented correctly when using the player.

Both MiVideo and Youtube have several accessibility features. If you are sharing a playlist, YouTube is recommended.

MiVideo

MiVideo supports captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions.

  • MiVideo player features including keyboard shortcuts and accessibility support are described in the vendor documentation Kaltura Player Accessibility

YouTube

YouTube supports captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions.

  • Youtube accessibility includes information about accessibility features, keyboard shortcuts, and using YouTube with a screen reader.

Flashing Content

Some flashing, blinking, or strobing content can cause seizures for some people.

Make sure your video content does not contain more than three flashes in any one second period, or that the flash is below the general flash and red flash thresholds.

You can use the Photosensitive Epilepsy Analysis Tool (PEAT) to analyze your video content for seizure risks.

Student Accommodations

If a student has an accommodation through the Services for Students with Disabilities office (SSD) for captions, transcripts or audio descriptions, faculty and staff can request these services through the SSD caption and transcript request form.

Additional Resources