Audio & Video

If you are using video or audio clips on a web page, there are several criteria to consider, such as captioning and audio description of the video. Audio description is an extra track explaining what happens on the screen to visually impaired users. If you are not able to provide audio description for you videos, then give an alternative in the form of a transcript that is uploaded or linked to from the page. Be aware that without audio descriptions, your site cannot be Level AA-compliant, only Level A-compliant. If the content is solely visual (no sound) or only audio (no visual), then a text version is an accepted alternative on both levels.

The University's position on web video is:

• Web accessibility comes first and foremost when using videos. This means that there must always be a transcript and closed captioning on any video on your site. Find Tips for Video Accessibility here.

• It is okay to use youtube videos on your site. Use the embed code provided under the video you're trying to add. First click "share", then click "embed" and copy the HTML there.

• Remember to include a video transcript next to each video. Please refer to Multimedia Resources to find instructions on editing and creating video captions and transcripts