Multimedia Accessibility: I Hear and Read What You See!

If I ask one of my friends to watch a video closing his eyes and explain the info, naturally, he/she would ask “Are you out of mind”? I know it’s weird to do so. But every day people who are blind watch videos like that and it is not weird for them.

If I ask another friend to watch a movie closing his/her ears and explain the emotions that are conveyed through music, dialogues and sounds, he would ask the same question like the other one. But people who are deaf watch videos like that and they don’t feel it is weird.

I know what we all of us are wondering about both the scenarios. Do they get to understand, emote and get all the information conveyed through these multimedia presentations? Well, we hit the nail on its head. In most of the cases, the answer is “no, no, a thousand times no!” People who are blind, deaf and deaf-blind belong to the same user group for whom we build the content with texts, images, audio and video. So no information should be left out by people who have sensory disabilities.

My Personal Journey with Multimedia Accessibility

As someone with a visual disability, I’ve always been acutely aware of the importance of accessible content. Early in my career, I would often encounter videos and images online that provided crucial information—only to find out that I couldn’t access the content within them. Imagine trying to follow a video tutorial without captions or having a beautifully designed infographic that tells you nothing because there’s no description for the images. These experiences shaped my approach to accessibility and inspired me to ensure that everything we create at DigitalA11y is accessible to all users, regardless of their abilities.

Why Multimedia Accessibility is Crucial

The internet is increasingly multimedia-rich, but these assets often present barriers to individuals with disabilities. Whether someone is blind, deaf, or has a cognitive or mobility-related disability, ensuring that all multimedia content is accessible is key to creating an inclusive online experience.

Accessibility isn’t just a legal requirement in many places—it’s also good practice. It ensures your audience can engage fully with your content, no matter their abilities. Moreover, accessible multimedia can improve user satisfaction, boost your search engine rankings, and even help in expanding your audience.

Comprehensive Multimedia Accessibility Checklist

Video Accessibility

• Captions: Ensure that all spoken content is accurately captioned. Use high-quality, synchronized captions for pre-recorded and live video content.
• Audio Descriptions: Provide audio descriptions for visual elements that are crucial to understanding the video content.
• Transcript: Offer a full transcript that includes both the spoken content and descriptions of key visual elements.
• Accessible Video Player: Make sure your video player supports keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, and includes accessible controls for play, pause, and volume adjustment.
• Clear Visuals: Ensure that visuals, such as text overlays or graphics, are high contrast and easy to read.
• Subtitles in Multiple Languages: If possible, provide subtitles for multilingual audiences.

Audio Accessibility

• Transcript: For podcasts, interviews, or audio clips, provide a written transcript of the entire audio.
• Clear Speech: Ensure that speakers articulate clearly, minimizing background noise to make content more understandable.
• Control Accessibility: If your audio is embedded on a website, ensure the player is keyboard navigable and works well with screen readers.

Here is an example video of Lion King which is audio described:

Image Accessibility

• Alt Text: Provide meaningful alternative text (alt text) for all images. The alt text should describe the image’s content or function for users who cannot see it.
• Long Descriptions: For complex images like infographics, offer long descriptions or accompanying text that conveys the same information.
• Text on Images: Ensure that any text within an image is also available in a readable format elsewhere (such as captions or in the body of the content) and has adequate contrast for readability.

Other Multimedia Formats

• Animations and GIFs: Provide alternative text and consider adding descriptive captions for any animated or fast-moving images. Make sure these elements do not induce seizures or discomfort, especially for users with epilepsy.
• PDFs and Documents: Ensure all downloadable content, such as PDFs, is accessible with tags, properly structured headings, and alternative text for embedded images.
• Interactive Content: For multimedia formats like quizzes or interactive infographics, make sure they are fully navigable by keyboard, screen reader-friendly, and do not rely solely on visual or audio cues.

General Considerations

• Testing: Always test your multimedia on a variety of devices and with different assistive technologies like screen readers, magnifiers, and keyboard navigation.
• Color Contrast: Ensure that all visuals and text meet WCAG contrast guidelines for users with low vision or color blindness.
• Timed Media: Provide the option to pause, stop, or extend timed media such as auto-scrolling content or timed interactions.

Conclusion

After this brief read, you might have an idea on what needs to be done as part of being accessible with regards to multimedia. If you can remember to add captions, audio descriptions and text transcript which would take little effort, you will help many users to have a pleasant experience watching videos or hearing to audio content present in your website or webpage.

For more information & resources related to multimedia accessibility you can check our Accessible Media Players post.