Video & Audio

Video and audio carry information that people with visual and/or auditory limitations or disabilities have trouble accessing. Accessibility for video and audio content has three required components:

  1. Captions for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers.
  2. Transcripts for screen-reader users and audio learners. 
  3. Audio descriptions for blind and low-vision viewers.

Since each addresses a different need, none of them is optional under WCAG 2.1 AA. This toolkit will help Rausser College staff identify potential accessibility barriers in their content and address them accordingly.

Who is responsible?

Digital accessibility is a shared responsibility at Rausser College, which means every unit and staff member plays an important role.

  • Units are responsible for selecting an accessible video platform, budgeting for professional captioning and audio description on publicly released content, and reviewing recorded events before they are posted publicly.
  • Staff who produce, edit, or publish video and audio should ensure that the content they author complies with the WCAG digital accessibility requirements—including captions, transcripts, audio descriptions, and an accessible player—before publishing a video or sharing it beyond your team.

Accessible captioning

WCAG digital accessibility requirements require captions on all prerecorded and live videos. Quality, WCAG-compliant captions feature the following four elements:

  • Quality captions are accurate: They use correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  • Quality captions are consistent: Speakers are labeled consistently throughout the video, and abbreviations are introduced before they are used.
  • Quality captions are complete: All spoken words and relevant, non-speech audio are captioned.
  • Quality captions are usable: Captions are in sync with the audio, on screen long enough to read, and never block on-screen text.

Open captions vs. closed captions

Captions are typically displayed in two ways:

  • Closed captions can be toggled on or off by the user. When uploaded to a supported media player, users can adjust the size, font, and color to suit their needs. 
  • Open captions are embedded into the video itself and can't be turned off. 

Closed captions are preferred in nearly every case, but since they are required, we recommend embedding open captions if the video player or platform does not allow uploading a subtitle file.

Auto-captions need human review

Auto-generated captions on YouTube and Zoom have improved dramatically, but they routinely mishandle proper nouns, technical terminology, multiple speakers, and any background audio. 

Auto-captions are a helpful starting point for unit staff who are captioning the video, but they must be edited for accuracy and quality before the video is published. When possible, we recommend using one of UC Berkeley’s vendors for highly visible, public-facing videos.

Transcripts

A transcript is a text version of the audio, available to read independently of the player. They primarily serve screen-reader users who want to read content rather than navigate a video player, or deafblind users who depend on transcripts paired with refreshable braille displays.

Fortunately, transcripts can be easily derived from captioned videos. We recommend doing the following to turn your captions into a compliant transcript:

  1. Paste the caption text into a document.
  2. Format the transcript using speaker labels and paragraph breaks
  3. Post it alongside the video. 

Note: Standalone transcripts are required for audio-only content, such as podcasts.

Audio descriptions

Audio descriptions narrate the visual elements of a video for blind and low-vision viewers. These descriptions usually describe the elements visible on screen, such as what is shown during a presentation, what someone is doing in a video, what is written in a graphic, or what a chart shows.

As of April 24, 2026, WCAG digital accessibility guidelines require audio descriptions for prerecorded video when meaningful visual content is not mentioned or described in the main audio track. There are generally three main ways to ensure your video is compliant.

Integrate descriptions into your audio

The easiest (and cheapest) way to ensure your video complies with the new accessibility requirements is to integrate descriptions of meaningful, non-spoken visuals into a script or presentation. 

We recommend making the following changes to your script or presentation style:

  • If a speaker is visible on screen, ask them to give a short visual description of themselves and their surroundings as part of their introduction.
  • If there are title cards or text visible on screen, include those words in the script, or ask your presenter to read them aloud.
  • When possible, have your narrator verbally describe what is happening in your video, or ask your presenter to describe any important visuals shown on screen.

Presenters don’t need to read slides verbatim, but should make an effort to ensure that every piece of meaningful content visible to their sighted audience members is described. Including a spoken description of the visual elements will ensure it is included in the caption file and transcript.

Example

Add descriptions to the existing audio track

If visual elements, actions, or on-screen text aren’t described, the original audio will have to be updated to include narrated descriptions of meaningful visual content. This type of audio description usually works best for videos with long pauses between dialogue, limited visual detail that requires audio description, or videos without speech.

Example

Create a version of the video with extended descriptions

For videos with complex graphics or significant visual content relevant to the content, a separate version of the video featuring extended descriptions may be required. These are created by pausing the video during each scene change, chart, or graphic so a voiceover can provide a WCAG-compliant description of the scene.

Examples

Resources

Resources