General Information
Captioning both live and recorded video is a requirement under the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA. Providing audio description for pre-recorded video is also required. The WCAG requirements are included in Section 508 of the United States Rehabilitation Act and also in several state web accessibility laws. Oklahoma is one of those states.
Here is some information and tools that can help you get a handle on creating more accessible videos for the web:
- WebAIM – Captions, Transcripts, and Audio Descriptions
- WGBH Accessibility, including it's Media Access Group and National Center on Accessible Media
- University of Washington – Creating Accessible Videos
- 3PlayMedia Caption Guide
- Captioning Key – guide to creating good captioning
- Audio Description of Visual Information from the W3C
- Integrated Described Video from AMI Canada
- What is Audio Description from 3Ply Media
Live Closed Captioning in Popular Platforms
Live captioning is best done by a human being. Automated technology is getting better at captioning all the time, however it is still not as accurate as it needs to be.
- Zoom
- GoToMeeting – Uses “smart assistant” and doesn’t seem to integrate a captioning provider during a meeting
- Microsoft Teams
- Skype Broadcasts (use Teams instead, if possible)
- Facebook Live
- Microsoft Office365 PowerPoint Real-Time Automatic Captions
- YouTube Live Captions
Captioning Services
Oklahoma ABLE Tech does not endorse one captioning service over others. The list below contains some services that provide live and/or post-recording captioning services:
Do-It-Yourself Tools
It is possible to provide captions to your multimedia after recording is done. The tools below will help with that:
Embedded Players
Accessible multimedia isn't just about transcripts and captions. If you have an embedded audio or video player on your website then you will need to make sure that it is accessible, too. Read about the things to keep in mind about embedded players here.