How to make video and audio accessible

Video audio must include all important information shown in the video visuals.  

This helps people who can hear the audio but find it difficult to access information shown in the video visuals. For example, people who: 

• Have a vision impairment 
• Find audio easier to understand than text or other visuals 
• Find it difficult to identify which visuals are important and which they can ignore 

What to include in your video audio 

Your video audio should include important information shown by visual content like: 

• Text 
• Demonstrations that show people how to do something 
• Events and actions taking place 
• Scenery 
• Charts and diagrams 

If you're not sure whether visual content in your video needs to be described in the audio, think about why you included it in your video. If you included it to communicate something to your audience, then you need to mention this in the audio.  

The audio doesn't necessarily have to describe exactly what's happening in the visuals or read out visible text word for word. But it must include the important information the visuals communicate. 

Example one 

This still from the Elective Home Education video shows text and illustrations. 

• The 'Elective Home Education' text tells us what the video is about. This means that the audio must mention that this is what the video is about too. The narrator says 'Elective Home Education' 
• The illustrations don't communicate any important information. This means they don't need to be mentioned in the audio 

Example two 

This still from the Elective Home Education video shows a web page. 

• The web page is included in the video to show that information about services to home educators is on the website. This means that the audio must mention this too. The narrator says 'Further information can be found on the Service to Home Educators web page' 
• The web page includes lots of text information. This is only shown briefly, indicating that viewers aren't expected to read it. This means the text information doesn't need to be mentioned in the audio 

Example three 

This still from the Flourish Pledge video shows footage of a welcome display at a childcare setting. 

• The footage is included in the video to show it is about an outdoor childcare setting. This means that the audio must mention it too. The speaker says it is an 'all outdoor environment' with 'children from 6 months old all the way through to 8 years old playing together in the woods' 
• The footage also shows other information, like flags and the word 'hello' in different languages on the display. This information isn't relevant to the subject matter of the video, so it doesn't need to be mentioned in the audio 

Exceptions 

There are some instances when you don't need to include visual information in your audio: 

• Videos that don't have an audio track (video-only) can either have an audio description or a descriptive transcript
• Live video streams don't need audio description 

How to make sure your video has good audio description 

There are three main ways you can make sure your video has good audio description. You can choose the one you find easiest. 

Option 1: include description in your main audio track 

When you're planning your video, make sure that the audio script includes all the important information that you're planning to show in your visuals. 

This Marathon Mates video is an example of a video with good integrated audio description: 

• The text shown in the video is included in the audio 
• The appearance of the logo at the end of the video is included in the audio 
• The other visuals aren't described in the audio because they don't communicate any extra information 

Option 2: add an additional audio track 

Alternatively, you can add an additional audio description (AD) track to your video. This is additional audio commentary that explains what's happening in the video. 

Most video players let you add this as an alternative audio track, so users can turn it on if they need it: 

• How to add an audio description track in YouTube 
• How to add multiple audio tracks in Vimeo 
• How to use alternative video audio tracks in Clipchamp or SharePoint 

You can use W3C's advice to help you write and record your audio description track. 

Watch the audio described version of RNIB's Before You Ask video to hear an example of a good audio description track. 

Option 3: create an additional video 

Alternatively, you can create a second version of your video that has audio description. This is additional audio commentary that explains what's happening in the video. 

You can use W3C's advice to help you write and record your audio description track. 

Then, publish both versions of the video. You must make it clear how they are different to help users pick the video to watch that best suits them. For example:  

• The RNIB include 'audio described' in the names of their videos with audio description 
• We have published the Before You Ask video on this page below and provided a text link to the audio described version underneath it  

Watch the audio described version of RNIB's Before You Ask video