Video content is a powerful way to connect with your audience, but its impact depends on how many people can access and engage with it. 

Not knowing how to make videos accessible means your brand risks losing meaningful engagement with diverse audiences, including people with disabilities. 

Let’s dive into some tips for expanding your brand’s reach by making videos accessible to all users.

What Is Video Accessibility?

What do translators, guide dogs, wheelchairs, and elevators all have in common? They make the world more accessible to people with physical limitations. Video accessibility follows the same principle. Accessibility in video can provide access to people with: 

  • Vision impairment
  • Hearing loss
  • Cognitive disabilities
  • Photosensitivity

When you put so much time and effort into making videos that entertain, educate, and inspire, you owe it to yourself and the people you reach to make your content as accessible and engaging as possible. 

Why Making Videos Accessible Is Important

Did you know that around 42.5 million Americans live with a disability? That’s 13% of the population. Without accessibility features, many people could potentially miss out on your video content. 

The good news is that by prioritizing accessibility in your video strategy, you can reach more people and provide a more inclusive experience. Plus, adhering to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) helps you avoid legal headaches, keeping your brand protected while engaging a wider audience.

WCAG

Developed and implemented by the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C, WCAG is a set of guidelines that standardize web content features to make them accessible to people with disabilities. The WCAG regulations are based on the principles listed below:

  • Perceivable – Content should be presented to viewers in a way they can perceive (see, hear).
  • Operable – The user interface should be simple to use and navigate.
  • Understandable – The information and user interface should be easy to understand.
  • Robust – The content should be easy for people with a wide range of disabilities to interpret and provide assistive technologies and future tech developments.

When you provide a service to the public, you’re responsible for making it available and operable for all. This includes making special considerations for those who might have trouble accessing or using your products and services without assistance. 

How to Make Videos Accessible

1. Add captions to video content

Adding captions to your videos is a fundamental principle of video accessibility. Captions allow people to read the dialogue and other sounds in real-time, allowing people in loud environments or silent spaces to enjoy video content in peace. 

There are three types of captions:

  • Subtitles: Used to translate foreign dialogue into the text of the local language.
  • Closed Caption: Designed to transcribe dialogue and other sounds in a video. They can be turned on or off for convenience.
  • Open Caption: Used to capture spoken dialogue, sound effects, and music cues. They can’t be removed from the screen.

When creating captions for accessibility, it’s important to give viewers enough time to read them. This aligns with the WCAG principle of making content understandable.

While platforms like YouTube use AI to automatically caption videos, they’re often imperfect. For the most accurate results, you should caption your videos, have your production team handle them, or outsource them to pros.

2. Create transcripts for video content

Creating a transcript of your video is another excellent way to ensure everyone can perceive the dialogue in your video content. Rather than appearing on the screen, transcripts are separate from the video and provide a complete readout of the video’s dialogue.

One of the best things about transcripts is that they allow viewers to pinpoint and interact with parts of a video that pique their interest. Transcripts enhance the video-watching experience for the hearing-impaired or even someone on a time crunch who needs specific information.

Creating captions and transcripts to make videos accessible can also significantly boost your SEO. It’s easier for search engines to scan captions and transcripts to see what video content is about than to glean it directly from the video content. Simply put, making your content more accessible makes it more visible to search engines!

3. Implement audio descriptions for visual content

While captions greatly help people with hearing limitations, audio descriptions can help the visually impaired. They typically play when there’s a pause in the dialogue and are convenient for people who may have difficulty seeing what’s on the screen but still want to follow the content in real-time.

4. Be mindful of color schemes

Color contrast is also important to consider when making videos accessible. Studies show that about 8% of men and 0.5% to 1% of women are color blind (or have color vision deficiency). 

There are different types of color blindness and various levels of deficiency. Some people with color vision deficiency find it hard to tell the difference between specific colors, while others find it hard to distinguish the shade and brightness of colors.

When you’re thinking about how to make videos accessible, consider your color scheme. Ask yourself: 

  • Is there enough contrast between the colors you’re using? 
  • Would any colors or color pairings be hard for someone to distinguish?

It is also helpful to study the color schemes of your biggest competitors. Certain colors and schemes may be prevalent in your industry and aligned with WCAG standards.

5. Avoid flashing lights and colors

Have you ever watched a video or played a video game that came with a seizure warning? This is because people with photosensitive epilepsy are prone to adverse reactions to lights flashing rapidly or in specific patterns. 

Children with epilepsy are more susceptible to photosensitivity than adults with the same condition. So, be especially mindful of lights and patterns that could trigger users if you make content for younger audiences.

Some people aren’t epileptic but are still sensitive to light. They experience nausea, headaches, and dizziness when subjected to bright or flashing lights and patterns. Given the prevalence of photosensitivity, it’s wise to avoid rapid flashing and excessively bright lights in your video content.

Conclusion

Making videos accessible means more people can enjoy your content. It gives everyone, including people with disabilities, the chance to fully engage and experience your videos.

At Bottle Rocket Media (BRM), we understand the best ways to make videos accessible and engaging for all audiences. Our video SEO marketing services will increase the accessibility of your videos and the visibility of your brand.

At BRM, our goal is to help you launch your business into a new stratosphere of awareness with video content that converts. If you’re ready to enhance the accessibility of your video content, let’s get started on your next project.