WCAG for Designers - Design Accessibility Requirement #7: Media

Design Accessibility Requirement #7 is all about ensuring media content—such as videos, audio, captions, transcripts, and subtitles—is accessible to all users. In today’s digital world, media plays a huge role in how information is shared, so ensuring it’s accessible is not just best practice, it’s essential.

Understanding the Importance of Accessible Media

Media is more than just something for users to view or listen to—it’s how we communicate ideas, emotions, and concepts. But if media isn’t accessible, it leaves a significant portion of users behind. WCAG addresses this in detail through several success criteria, including:

• 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only Content 🎬: Ensures that content that is only audio or video has a text-based alternative that makes it accessible to users who may not be able to perceive it through one sense.
• 1.2.2 Captions 📝: Ensure videos can be played with captions, and synchronized text is provided for audio content.
• 1.2.3 Audio Descriptions 🔊: Provide descriptions for visual content in prerecorded videos, making them accessible to more people.
• 1.2.4 Captions for Live Videos 🎤: Captions must be provided for live video content.
• 1.2.5 Audio Descriptions 🎧: Pre-recorded videos must include synchronized audio descriptions of visual content.
• 1.2.8 Media Alternatives (AAA) 📑: Pre-recorded videos must include text equivalents for all content.

Each of these criteria provides ways to ensure that your media is usable and accessible for everyone, regardless of their ability to perceive it visually or audibly. But as designers, we don't always create these resources ourselves—however, we do play a critical role in identifying which options are needed and ensuring they are implemented.

Transcripts and Captions: What You Need to Know

While designers don’t typically create captions or transcripts, it’s our responsibility to identify what’s needed based on the context and the user's needs. Some media may require captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions, and in many cases, all three options should be provided.

Transcripts are a written text version of audio-only content. For videos, they help people who are deaf or hard of hearing access the information. For those who are blind or have low vision, audio descriptions describe what’s happening visually. By providing these resources, you ensure the media is perceivable to everyone, regardless of their sensory abilities.

How to Make Media Accessible

Here are a few tips to help you incorporate accessible media into your designs:

• Embed transcripts directly beneath the video or audio content. Use a disclosure component for ease of access, so users can open the transcript when needed.
• Ensure that captions are available for all videos, including live content.
• Work with a professional captioning vendor to ensure high-quality captions and descriptions are available for your media.
• If your content relies heavily on images or visual elements, audio descriptions are essential to provide context for those with visual impairments.

Why Media Accessibility Matters

Accessible media is about human experience. Whether you’re creating video content, audio podcasts, or live streams, ensuring that everyone can access the information, regardless of their abilities, is a fundamental part of building inclusive experiences.

Making these features available not only improves accessibility for people with disabilities but also benefits all users by enhancing clarity and engagement. As the internet continues to evolve, accessibility must be an integral part of how we design and deliver content.

Next Steps and Resources

To learn more about how to integrate accessible media into your digital content, here are some helpful resources:

• W3C Media Accessibility: A guide to making media content accessible for all.
• Deque Systems: Media Accessibility: Multimedia Accessibility importance and best practices.
• WebAIM: Accessible Multimedia: Techniques and tools for implementing accessible multimedia.

Accessible media ensures that everyone has the opportunity to engage with your content. Start incorporating these practices today to create a more inclusive web experience for all users!