YouTube accessibility is very simple. Here’s how to make your YouTube videos WCAG 2.1 AA conformant and follow best practices for ADA Compliance:
- Accurate, synced closed captions
- Audio descriptions
Here are some other potential considerations and nuances for accessibility and WCAG conformance:
- Audio descriptions (narration of visuals) are only necessary when important visuals (e.g., relevant PowerPoint slide information) aren’t relayed audibly otherwise.
- Closed captions are more than subtitles. They include meaningful non-spoken audio (e.g., door slam, cheering, etc.), but if a video doesn’t contain meaningful non-spoken audio, then effectively subtitles are fine.
- Thumbnail messaging should be conveyed in the video title.
- Thumbnail and other meaningful text (if 14 size font + bold or 18 size font) should have a 3:1 color contrast ratio
- Any videos that contain blinking or flashing graphics that blink or flash more than 3 times in a second should be preceded by a warning that the graphic may trigger seizures
- The video title should be clear and descriptive of the video’s content
On YouTube vs. Embedded On WebPage
Another very relevant aspect of YouTube videos is there are still several accessibility issues (technical instances of non-conformance) when the video is embedded on a webpage. YouTube’s accessibility audit team is aware of these issues and while many previous issues have been fixed, there are still many others that exist.
You can see the latest updates on the Google issue tracker page, Multiple Accessibility Issues with the Embedded YouTube Player.
Here’s a direct quote from comment #16 posted on October 2022:
My name is Teresa and I am from the accessibility audit team.
Out of 26 issues mentioned above, the following 6 still repro and are now ordered in priority:
- At 400% zoom, ‘Volume slider’, ‘Subtitles/ Closed caption(cc)’, ‘Settings’ controls are not available in YouTube video player.
- Tooltip is not defined for volume slider and Play icon control.
- Focus moves out of ‘Settings’ and ‘more videos’ menu without closing it.
- Frames should have unique title attribute if multiple frames exist on the page **This can be reproduced if multiple frames exist on the page.
- Aria-label attribute is defined for the element inside the ‘YouTube’ videos.
- Descriptive aria-label is not defined for ‘Photo image of Noclip – Video Game Documentaries’ image link. (Note: It’s aria-label should be like ‘Noclip – Video Game Documentaries YouTube channel’)
There have been no substantive updates since.
Transcripts
Text transcripts are an option under WCAG success criterion 1.2.3 (level A), but that option for conformance is rendered unnecessary by success criterion 1.2.5 (level AA) because 1.2.5 requires an audio description. However, there are a lot of marketing, accessibility, and usability benefits to providing a text transcript so you may want to consider both.
Here are some benefits to transcripts:
Accessibility Benefits
- Provide access for people who are both deaf and blind (who cannot access either audio or visual content)
- Help users with cognitive disabilities who process written information better than audio/visual
- Support users with limited bandwidth who cannot stream video content
- Allow for easier translation into other languages
Marketing Benefits
- Improve SEO by giving search engines indexable text content
- Increase time users engage with your content
- Reach audiences who prefer reading to watching videos
- Make content discoverable through search within the transcript
Usability Benefits
- Enable quick scanning for specific information rather than watching entire videos
- Provide reference material that can be easily copied, saved, or printed
- Allow users to consume content in noise-sensitive environments
- Support note-taking and research without constant pausing/rewinding
You can reap all of the reward, keep your YouTube text transcripts organized, and keep your YouTube descriptions simple by using TranscriptHost.com to host your transcripts.
This instantly solves the question of where to put your text transcript.
Summary
YouTube video accessibility primarily comes down to:
- closed captions
- audio descriptions
However, there are other considerations in play including whether or not you’re embedding your video in a web page. Even if some accessibility measures aren’t strictly necessary for WCAG conformance or best practices for ADA compliance, they can still be advantageous for improved accessibility, usability, and marketability.
