This section includes information on video accessibility for different audiences including captions or live captions for those who don’t have access to the audio and audio decsriptions for those who don’t have access to the visuals. See also the Captioning Decision Tree (Login Required) for additional information on vendors, pricing lists and policy.
Non-Deaf Beneficiaries of Captions
Although captions are considered time consuming to implement, it is helpful to remember that many individuals besides a deaf or hard of hearing audiences can benefit from captions. These include:
- anyone with defective computer audio
- students needing to learn new terminology or
- those whose first language is not English
- viewers in a noisy room or with a sleeping roommate
Benefits of Embedded Description
The easiest way to provide “audio description” is to ensure that important images are described when the video is created whenever possible.
- Ensures that the audio track is consistent.
- Provides information to anyone not understanding the image.
- Helps sighted users viewing video on a small device or from the back of a large room.
If separate audio descriptions are needed, there are recommended tools and software.