Accessible content requires captions for video and transcripts for audio

Individuals with hearing impairments, especially those who are totally deaf, have difficulty understanding content that is only conveyed sonically. This includes all audio content and any video content that  an audio component.

All videos that provide important information sonically should have accurate, synchronized captions, and all audio content should provide a full-text transcript.

Pros

These measures allow individuals with hearing impairments to understand audio content, including audio-only materials and audio components for video content.

Best practices

Synchronized captions

All videos that have audio components should also maintain accurate, synchronized captions. Ideally, a user would be able to turn captions on or off based on need and preference.

Standards for captioning can be found on the DCMP Captioning Key website.

Full-text transcripts

All audio content should provide a full-text transcript, which should also include any audio content used as a part of a video. Transcripts are usually available on a separate web page or as a downloadable file.

Checking for correct usage

Be sure to perform checks for the functionality of accessible measures:

• View all the videos on the site with the captions activated and deactivated.
• Check that they are present and absent when appropriate.
• Verify they are accurate and synchronized properly with the video.
• View the content with the audio muted to check that the content remains available and understandable.