Accessible Media
Media can engage your audience. However, like images, if there are no alternative descriptions for the action and audio, many users will not understand your message.
Use these tips to produce more accessible media content.
Producing More Accessible Media
For people to enjoy your video and audio content (aka time-based media), these should be presented on your WordPress site using semantic headings and descriptions as well as captions, transcripts, and descriptive audio tracks.
Before you publish media
Review your media to determine the following three alternatives are present.
Audio Description
Audio description ensures all relevant actions, movements, or content is described in the audio track. This makes video content more accessible for users with low or no vision as well as some users with certain cognitive disabilities.
Example: a video contains text on the screen that is also included in the dialogue.
To check if your video is audio described accurately, listen to the audio track without watching the visuals. If all the content is covered in the dialogue alone, your video is described.
Captions
Captions ensure all relevant sounds and dialogue are described in the caption track, including identifying the names of speakers if there are more than one. This makes videos more accessible for a wide range of users and environments.
Example: a crash occurs out of the frame that startles the actor. If [crash] is included in the caption track, the viewer understands that a relevant sound occurred from the captions alone.
To check if your video is captioned accurately, watch your video without the audio. If all the relevant sounds and dialogue are included, your video is captioned.
Descriptive Transcripts
Descriptive transcripts provide a written text of both the audio description and captions.
Ideally, your transcript is shared in the same place as your video. This can be the description on a YouTube video, published as text on your WordPress page, or both.
Publishing media content
When publishing your media on a WordPress page, include semantic headings to name your video. This helps users identify there is a video on the page.
Provide a short description of the video to help a user understand why they should watch the video. Include a transcript on the same page or link to a page that contains the full transcript.
Going Further
Find more tips and examples of accessible media by visiting Webguide: Video and Audio Content Accessibility Resources.
Continue
In this final section, review tools and resources available at Boise State for creating and maintaining accessible web content.