Whether distributed in person or online, videos often rely on the viewer being able to see and hear what’s happening. Different viewers have different support needs, so it’s important to be flexible to meet them.
Open vs Closed Captions
Captions provide text descriptions of the audio on screen. Open captions are on all versions of the video, while closed captions can be turned on or off depending on the user’s preference.
Captions are useful for people who are D/deaf or hard of hearing, as well as people who are learning a language or have Audio Processing Disorder. However, captions can also make it more difficult for some people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder to focus.
CADET is free downloadable software that allows you to create caption files that can be uploaded to sites like YouTube or Vimeo as closed captions.
Audio Descriptions
James Rath, a legally blind filmmaker and Youtuber, started #AudioDescribeYT to ask YouTube to add closed audio descriptions.
Audio descriptions explain what’s happening on screen in the natural pauses of dialogue, allowing blind people or people with visual impairments to understand audiovisual work.
Unlike closed captioning, most media players do not support closed audio descriptions, so audio descriptions often must be part of a video. Depending on the context, you can either provide two separate videos, one with audio descriptions, or you can try to explain aloud relevant pieces of visual information.
DigitalGov has a tutorial on how to make audio descriptions.
Flashing Lights
This is a standard epilepsy warning produced by Epilepsy Action.
If you make a video with flashing visual elements, be sure to include a warning beforehand so that viewers with photosensitive epilepsy can avoid that content as needed.
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