Maximum Accessibility: Making Your Web Site More Usable for Everyone

Accessible Video Content Requires Closed Captioning

Video media elements typically rely on the user’s ability to see and hear content in order to fully experience it. Users who do not hear or have turned off their speakers rely on a text caption track of the dialogue and other sounds that accompany the video. Besides making the soundtrack accessible to some 20 million Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing, these closed captions are useful for people with cognitive disabilities; captions are also helpful to individuals who are learning the language spoken in the video. WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 1.4 and Section 508 paragraph (b) specify that the captions must be synchronized with the delivery of the video and audio presentation.

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