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Video Accessibility Guidelines

Use this page as a reference when creating videos. It is intended as a general guide to help support accessible video content. For specific questions, please contact a member of the accessibility team or consult the official guidelines for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Following these recommendations will help ensure your videos meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA accessibility standards.

Multimedia Accessibility Diagram

For quick reference, use this diagram as a guide when creating and uploading your videos.
View Diagram

Captions & Media Alternatives

Standard: WCAG SC 1.2.4
 
  • Live audio content in synchronized media must include real-time captions.

Examples:

  • Live webinars
  • Live streaming events
  • Virtual conferences

Captions should:

  • Appear in real time
  • Be readable and synchronized with the speaker
Standard: WCAG SC 1.2.4
 
  • Prerecorded videos must include accurate closed captions.

Captions should include:

  • Spoken dialogue
  • Speaker identification when relevant
  • Meaningful sounds (music, laughter, applause)
  • Proper synchronization with the video

Avoid:

  • Using unreviewed auto-generated captions

Standard: WCAG SC 1.2.5

If important visual information is not described in narration provide audio descriptions that explain:

  • On-screen text
  • Charts or graphs
  • Demonstrations
  • Visual actions critical to understanding

Best practice:

  • Provide a separate audio description track
  • Or integrate descriptions into the narration.
  • Descriptions should be easy to locate near the video.

Standard: WCAG SC 1.2.1

Provide a complete text transcript including:

  • Spoken dialogue
  • Important sounds
  • Speaker identification

The transcript should be clearly linked or displayed on the page.

Examples

  • Podcasts
  • Recorded lectures
  • Interviews

Standard: WCAG SC 1.2.1

If a video has no dialogue or audio explanation, provide a text description or an audio description. This description should explain:

  • Key visuals
  • Actions
  • On-screen text
  • Context needed to understand the video

Place the description next to or directly below the video.

Video Player Accessibility

Standard: WCAG 2

Video player controls must be fully accessible.

Users should be able to:

  • Play / pause
  • Enable captions
  • Adjust volume
  • Enter fullscreen

Controls must:

  • Work with keyboard navigation
  • Have visible focus indicators
  • Be reachable without a mouse

Standard: WCAG 1.4.2

  • Users must be able to adjust video volume independently of the device or browser volume.

Autoplay & Motion

Standard: WCAG 1.4.2

Videos should not autoplay with sound as this can disrupt screen reader navigation, keyboard users, and users with cognitive disabilities. If autoplay is used, users must be able to:

  • Pause
  • Stop
  • Mute the video

As a best practice, authors should disable autoplay entirely.

Standard: WCAG 2.3.2

  • Videos should not contain flashing content that flashes more than 3 times per second, which can trigger seizures.

Visual Accessibility

Standard: WCAG 1.3.3

Do not use color as the only way to communicate information. Examples to avoid:

  • "Correct answers are shown in green”
  • “Errors appear in red”

Instead use:

  • Text labels
  • Icons
  • Patterns
  • Additional visual indicators

Standard: WCAG 1.4

Check that on-screen text:

  • Has sufficient color contrast
  • Is large enough to read
  • Stays visible long enough for users to read

Layout & Context

Standard: Video on layout from W3

To improve usability for screen readers, cognitive accessibility, and keyboard navigation ensure that:

  • Video location is predictable on the page
  • Controls remain visible and consistent
  • Media elements follow standard page patterns

View description of Visual Information

Each video should include:

  • A descriptive title
  • Context explaining why the video is included

Examples:

  • Good: “Student Dashboard Tutorial Video”
  • Poor: “Watch Video”

Technique: H64 (Using the title attribute of the iframe element)

Embedded videos should include an iframe title attribute. 

  • Example title="How to Use the Student Dashboard Video"
  • Avoid vague titles such as: title="video"

Platform Specific Notes

YouTube

  • Review and edit auto-generated captions
  • Confirm captions are enabled
  • Avoid autoplay when embedding
  • Verify keyboard navigation works in embedded players

Wistia

  • Upload SRT or VTT caption files
  • Enable captions in player settings
  • Confirm player supports keyboard navigation

Vidyard

  • Upload caption files
  • Verify captions display properly
  • Confirm controls are accessible

MP4

If hosting directly ensure the player supports:

  • Closed captions
  • Keyboard navigation
  • Pause / play controls
  • Volume controls

Also provide:

  • Caption file (VTT or SRT)
  • A text transcript on the page
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