Video and Audio Accessibility

Automated captions are not compliant alone. Manual review and correction are mandatory for all Florida State University multimedia content.

Compliance Standards by Content Type

Content Type WCAG Requirement How to Achieve Compliance
Pre-Recorded Video Captions & Audio Descriptions Mandatory: Create a full script, review auto-generated captions for 100% accuracy, and upload the final VTT/SRT file.
Live Events (Zoom/Teams) Live Captions Use the platform’s live captioning feature; ensure a mechanism is in place for accommodations if quality is insufficient.
Audio-Only (Podcasts) Transcripts Provide a separate, clean, scrollable text page containing the full content of the audio.
YouTube Uploads Text Alternative Action: Paste the full transcript into the YouTube description box with the heading: "Full Text Transcript."

Multimedia Best Practices

Captioning Essentials

  • Accuracy: Aim for 99% accuracy. Correct all misspellings, proper nouns, and punctuation.
  • Synchronization: Captions must appear exactly when the audio starts.
  • Speaker ID: Identify multiple speakers (e.g., [PROFESSOR SMITH]:).
  • Sound Effects: Include non-speech audio in brackets (e.g., [applause], [upbeat music]).
  • Placement: Leave the bottom 20% of the screen clear for readability.

Advanced Workflows (Canva & AI)

AI Tools for Compliance

Copy and paste these prompts into Gemini, ChatGPT, or Co-Pilot along with your raw text to transform messy auto-transcripts into accessible formats.

Prompt 1: The "Caption Cleaner"

Act as a WCAG 2.1 Level AA Accessibility Specialist. I am going to paste a raw transcript of a video below. Please rewrite it into a caption-ready format following these strict rules: 1. Speaker Identification: Identify speakers in UPPERCASE (e.g., PROFESSOR:). 2. Sound Effects: Insert non-speech audio in [lowercase brackets]. 3. Clean Up: Remove filler words (um, uh) and false starts. 4. Formatting: Max 42 characters per line. 5. FSU Standards: Ensure 'Florida State University', 'FSU', and campus locations like 'Landis Green' are capitalized correctly. Here is the raw transcript: [PASTE YOUR TEXT HERE]

Prompt 2: The Audio Description Scripter

Act as a Video Accessibility expert. I am providing you with the dialogue script and visual context. Write Audio Description (AD) cues. Rules: 1. Identify "Natural Pauses" where a description fits without talking over the speaker. 2. Use present tense (e.g., "The student walks..."). 3. Read aloud any important on-screen text that isn't spoken. Format as: [Time/Pause] - "AD Script" Dialogue/Context: [PASTE SCRIPT & VISUAL NOTES HERE]

Key Steps for Adding Audio Descriptions:

Adding audio descriptions for ADA Title II compliance involves creating a narration track that describes essential visual information (actions, scenes, on-screen text) during natural pauses in dialogue. Methods include creating a separate, dubbed video file, utilizing video editors (e.g., Premiere) to mix in a second audio track, or using player features on platforms like YouTube to upload descriptive tracks. 

  • Scripting: Write a script describing meaningful visual information, such as on-screen text, speaker changes, or crucial actions that are not explained by the main audio.
  • Recording: Record the script using audio software, ensuring the voiceover does not conflict with the primary audio.
  • Integrating: Combine the new, descriptive audio track with the original audio using video editing software, placing descriptions in pauses.
  • Publishing Methods:
  • Separate File: Create a specific "Audio Described" version of the video.
  • Platform Tools: Use the "Descriptive audio" feature in YouTube Help to upload a separate audio file.
  • Accessible Players: Utilize players like Able Player that support audio description tracks.
  • Alternatives: If an audio track is not feasible, provide a detailed text transcript that covers both audio and visual information.