Blog

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• Localization

Which Languages Are Required for EAA Compliance?

Elisa Lewis

•

September 9, 2025

Get the EAA Checklist

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) has introduced significant considerations for businesses operating within or expanding into the EU market. Compliance, particularly regarding language support for accessible video content, is now a critical operational priority. At 3Play Media, we’re committed to staying ahead of these changes and helping our customers navigate the EAA with ease. This blog will help you answer the common question: Which languages are required for EAA compliance?

It’s also critical to note that in the EU and UK, the terms “captions” and “subtitles” are often used interchangeably; however, the EAA requirement is for Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SDH), which includes speaker identification and essential non-speech information. 

Navigating Backlogs and Member State Nuances

Two other areas of common confusion when understanding EAA video requirements include backlog content and member state rules. 

• Member State Rules: Each member state interprets and enforces the EAA baseline differently. Staying informed is key, as not all member states have published specific rules yet.

• Backlog Content: The purpose of your video matters. If you are producing e-learning or streaming videos where video is your product, you have until 2030 to make your backlogs accessible. Marketing videos may be exempt.

Seize the Opportunity: Expand and Engage with EAA Compliance

The EAA isn’t just about compliance; it’s about unlocking new markets and boosting your global SEO. Let’s continue the dialogue on EAA and localization. 3Play Media is dedicated to helping you scale globally, maintaining quality, and ensuring accessibility at every step, as our global language transcription and audio description solutions are designed to meet and exceed EAA standards. 

Learn More

Get Started With EAA Compliance

Use this checklist as a living document to track your progress toward full EAA compliance.

Get the Checklist

Disclaimer: Please note that this blog has been written for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

About the author

Elisa Lewis

Elisa Lewis is a Senior Marketing Manager at 3Play Media, where she leads content and brand strategy. She is passionate about accessibility, storytelling, and building connections through communication.

The post Which Languages Are Required for EAA Compliance? appeared first on 3Play Media.

Blog

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• Captioning

How to Create an SRT File

Elisa Lewis

•

April 16, 2025

Create your own SRT files [Free Template]

An SRT (.srt) file is one of the most common file formats for subtitling and/or captioning. ‘SRT’ stands for ‘SubRip Subtitle’ file. This format originated from the DVD-ripping software by the same name. SubRip would “rip” (or extract) subtitles and timings from live video, recorded video, and, of course, DVDs. Today, this format is widely supported by most media players and video software, and you can even create SRT files yourself.

SRT files offer a straightforward way to add captions to your videos. However, getting started can feel overwhelming. As industry leaders in captioning solutions, we’ve created a comprehensive guide to give you the lowdown on everything you need to know about SRT files – what they are, how to create them (on Mac and Windows), and why you should use them.

  FREE Template: Create an SRT Files  

What is an SRT file?

As we mentioned, SRT files are derived from the SubRip software. This software extracted subtitles and their timing information from video content as a text file. Today, creating an SRT text file is easy to do without needing special software, and we’ll show you how! But first, it’s helpful to understand how SRT files are formatted and the components they’re made up of.

The Anatomy of an SRT File

There are many types of caption formats, but SRT files are very simple. This makes them easy for people to read and even edit using a basic text editor. Each caption frame within an SRT file follows the same structure.

This simple structure allows web players to synchronize the text with the video playback accurately. While some advanced formatting like italics or positioning might be supported by certain video players, the core strength of SRT lies in its universal compatibility and readability.

Timecodes in SRT files follow this format: hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds. The milliseconds are always shown with three decimal places. The start and end timecodes for each subtitle are separated by a double arrow (written as: – ->). After the timecodes and the subtitle text, you need to add a blank line to signal the start of the next subtitle. When you save your SRT file, make sure to use the .srt extension.

Why are SRT files so popular?

SRT files are widely used because they provide the following benefits:

• Wide Compatibility: SRT files work seamlessly with a vast range of media players, video hosting platforms, lecture capture software, and video editing tools.
• Human-Readable: Their plain text format makes them easy to understand, edit, and troubleshoot.
• Language Support: SRT files can accommodate characters from almost any language.
• Versatility: They can be used for both closed captions (including sound descriptions and other non-speech elements) and subtitles (primarily dialogue).

3Play Media includes seamless SRT captioning integrations with many popular platforms used for online video, including Facebook, YouTube, and Wistia.

  FREE Template: Create an SRT Files  

How to create SRT files:

The first step in creating an SRT file is to create the transcript for your video – depending on the operating system you’re using, the instructions may vary. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered:

For Mac users

1. Open a new file in TextEdit
2. To begin, type the number 1 to indicate the beginning of the first caption sequence. To move on, press enter 
3. Enter the beginning and ending timecode, using the following format: hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds – -> hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds
4. When you’re finished, press enter
5. In the next line, begin typing your captions. It is best practice to limit captions to 32 characters, with 2 lines per caption – this ensures viewers aren’t forced to read too much too quickly, and that captions don’t take up too much space on the screen. Additionally ensure your captions comply with legal guidelines.*
6. After the last line of text in the sequence, press enter twice. Always leave a blank line to indicate a new caption sequence
7. After the blank line, type the number 2 to indicate the beginning of the second caption sequence and type your captions following SRT format. 
8. Repeat these steps until you have a completed transcript!
9. To save your file as an .srt, click Format → Make Plain Text, or you can use the keyboard shortcut Shift + Command + T
10. Then click File → Save. Under Save As, type the name of your file. Then, change the file extension from .txt to .srt 
11. Uncheck Hide Extension on the bottom left-hand side of the menu, as well as If no extension is provided, use “.txt”
12. Click Save. Congratulations – you are now ready to upload your captions!

For Windows users

1. Open a new file in Notepad
2. To begin, type the number 1 to indicate the beginning of the first caption sequence. To move on, press enter 
3. Enter the beginning and ending timecode, using the following format: hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds –> hours:minutes:seconds,milliseconds
4. When you’re finished, press enter
5. In the next line, begin typing your captions. Best practices recommend limiting captions to 32 characters, with 2 lines per caption – this ensures viewers aren’t forced to read too much too quickly, and that captions don’t take up too much space on the screen. Additionally ensure your captions comply with legal guidelines.*
6. After the last line of text in the sequence, press enter twice. Always leave a blank line to indicate a new caption sequence
7. After the blank line, type the number 2 to indicate the beginning of the second caption sequence and type your captions following SRT format. 
8. Repeat these steps until you have a completed transcript! 
9. Then click File → Save. Under File Name, type the name of your file and include .srt at the end
10. Under Save as type select All Files
11. Click Save, and congratulations! You are now ready to upload your captions.

How to upload SRT files

The process of uploading your newly created SRT file may vary depending on which media player, lecture capture software, or video recording software you choose to upload your video to – that’s why we’ve written how-to guides for just about every platform you can think of, including YouTube, Canvas, and Zoom.

Read the Guide: How to Create SRT Files

*For more information on legal requirements and closed captioning guidelines, refer to our white papers:

DIY SRT Creation vs. professional captioning

SRT file creation is an easy (and free) solution to independently create captions on your own videos. However, those looking for DIY solutions should be aware that caption creation often additionally requires timecode creation, which typically makes the captioning process more time consuming. 

To avoid the requirement of setting your own timecodes, YouTube’s captioning tool is one alternative that automatically syncs captions with what is being spoken in the video. Using this tool, users can select a video from their YouTube account, manually add captions to that file, and the corresponding timecodes will automatically populate. This effectively eliminates the need to manually enter timecodes (unlike in SRT file creation) and can save DIY captioners some time. 

The length of time it takes to caption a video can vary, but largely depends on the length of the video itself, the captioner’s level of experience, and video quality. Typically, it could take an experienced transcriptionist 5-10 times a video’s length to transcribe captions – this means a five-minute video could take anywhere from 25 to 50 minutes to complete! If you’re creating your own captions and timecodes using an SRT file, it may take longer. 

There are numerous benefits to captioning your videos, so don’t let the time it takes to create captions prevent you from adding them to your video! Captioned video content has the ability to improve your SEO rankings and serve your content to new audiences – including viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing, those who know English as a second language, and even those who simply prefer using captions. 

Creating your own captions can be a cost-saver, but if you’re planning on captioning many videos or lengthy videos, consider hiring a captioning service. A full-service captioning solution ensures all of your captions are legally compliant and avoids the need to consider timecode creation in the captioning process. 

A good captioning service will take care of all the logistics for you. That’s why 3Play Media guarantees turnaround based on your schedule, and a 99.6% average accuracy rate. Before selecting a vendor, it’s important to research who exactly will be captioning your videos as well as how the captioning and transcription process works, to better understand their rates.

Think you’re ready to start writing SRT captions? Get started today

This post was originally published on March 8, 2017 by Sofia Enamorado & has since been updated for accuracy, freshness, and clarity.

About the author

Elisa Lewis

Elisa Lewis is a Senior Marketing Manager at 3Play Media, where she leads content and brand strategy. She is passionate about accessibility, storytelling, and building connections through communication.

The post How to Create an SRT File appeared first on 3Play Media.

Blog

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• Accessibility

Ultimate Guide to the European Accessibility Act (EAA) for Video

Elisa Lewis

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March 24, 2025

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) establishes accessibility requirements for several key products and services to benefit individuals with disabilities and elderly people in the European Union. The goal of the legislation is to eliminate the barriers that people with disabilities confront when accessing modern-day technologies.

Watch the Webinar: How the EAA Impacts Global Business

What Is the European Accessibility Act?

The European Accessibility Act sets requirements for several products and services such as:

• Ticketing and check-in machines
• Computers and operating systems
• Smartphones
• TV equipment related to digital television services
• Telephony services and related equipment
• Banking services
• Audiovisual media services, such as television broadcast and related consumer equipment
• eBooks
• eCommerce
• Services related to air, bus, rail, and waterborne passenger transport
• Websites and mobile applications

The idea is to encourage companies to integrate accessibility into their development process – not have it be an afterthought.

While the EAA defines accessibility requirements, it does not specify technical solutions for achieving them. Companies should take the initiative and engage with regulatory bodies in their operating countries to better understand local interpretations of the law.

As stated by the European Commission’s fact sheet, the EAA:

• uses a set of common accessibility requirements for products and services in the EU
• creates an obligation for Member States of the EU
• uses the same accessibility requirements to define the accessibility obligation laid down in the existing EU law
• supports implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• ensures that all products and services complying with accessibility requirements will circulate freely in the internal market
• does not prescribe technical details to meet, but allows for the implementation and development of technical standards if necessary
• does not set obligations for all manufacturers and service providers, only for those selected on the list of products and services
• does not impose burdensome requirements by providing safeguards or disproportionate burden and fundamental alteration
• does not amend existing EU sectorial legislation on accessibility

While the EU Commission is responsible for drafting the directive, the enforcement falls under the jurisdiction of national regulatory bodies. This distinction is crucial, as compliance requirements may differ from country to country.

What Does the EAA Mean for Video Accessibility?

Imagine trying to enjoy your favorite movie, but you can’t hear the dialogue. Or needing to access critical information in a training video, but you’re blind. This is the reality for millions of Europeans, and it’s exactly what the EAA aims to address, especially when it comes to video.

The EAA mandates accessibility for content distributed over the internet. This means all online touchpoints, including websites, apps, media players, products that use video, kiosks, e-commerce platforms, streaming services, and connected TV services, must be made accessible to individuals with disabilities. Note, traditional broadcasters should adhere to local rules.

The EAA emphasizes that accessibility is fundamentally about ensuring that information and services can be effectively perceived, operated, understood, and used by people with disabilities. 

When a company (or any organization) wants to ensure its products and services are truly accessible, providing information in alternative formats is crucial.

In order to make video accessible, it should include closed captions, audio description, transcripts, and sign language interpretation. These assets should be accurate, time synchronized, and allow the user to control the display and use.

Compliance with EAA for Media and Entertainment

Media and entertainment content falls under the category of audiovisual media services, which are defined as mass media whose purpose is to inform, entertain, and educate the general public, including ads.

Streaming services and other on-demand providers must ensure their content is accessible under the EAA if it is hosted on their own platforms and does not meet any exemptions. This includes providing SDH and AD, especially where required by EN 301 549 or where the AVMSD encourages gradual accessibility improvements.

Additionally, Article 32 of the EAA allows a five-year transitional period for audiovisual media services to make content published before June 2025 accessible, allowing time for compliance with new accessibility requirements.

Corporate and Education Compliance with EAA

For both corporate and education, the EAA encourages a shift from reactive accessibility measures to proactive, “design for all” approaches. This means incorporating accessibility into the initial design and development process, rather than adding it as an afterthought.

Companies that provide products and services within the EU must ensure they are accessible to people with disabilities. 

This means corporations will need to invest in:

• Accessible design and development.
• Testing with assistive technologies.
• Providing accessible customer support.
• Creating accessible documentation and training materials.
• Tools and resources for internal accessibility.

Educational institutions must ensure accessibility for all students by providing accessible learning materials, educational services, inclusive environments, and technology, along with training and awareness for educators and staff.

Exemptions to the EAA: What You Need to Know

As stated in Article 2 of the EAA, pre-recorded time-based media published before June 28, 2025, on websites and mobile apps is exempt from accessibility requirements.

This exemption does not apply to audiovisual media services.

Third-party content that is neither funded, developed by, nor under the control of the organization (such as user-uploaded YouTube videos embedded on your site) may be exempt. However, if you control or license the content, as streaming platforms do, you are not exempt.

Multilingual Support

While the EAA does not explicitly list every language, it requires accessibility for all users within the EU. If you publish content in a specific language for a given market (e.g., an Italian version of an English video for Italy), then the accessibility features must be in the same language. For example, this means Italian captions and audio description for an Italian audience.

Organizations should prioritize the languages used in the markets they are targeting.

Who Does the EAA Benefit?

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) aims to create a more equitable digital landscape for the 10 million people with disabilities living in the EU. By mandating features like audio assistance on ATMs, the EAA enhances the daily lives of disabled individuals, fosters job creation in the accessibility sector, and promotes a more inclusive educational environment. Additionally, businesses that implement EAA requirements can tap into a broader customer base and streamline cross-border trade within the EU.

Where to Start with EAA Compliance

For organizations navigating EU Accessibility Act compliance, particularly regarding video content, a focused approach is crucial. 

1. Audit existing libraries: Begin by auditing existing video libraries and workflows to identify accessibility gaps, specifically regarding captioning, subtitling, audio descriptions, and sign language interpretation. 
2. Train your team: Invest in training for content creators and localization teams on accessible video production and localization practices.
3. Establish team roles: Define clear team roles and establish quality assurance protocol to ensure efficient and effective EAA compliance
4. Create an accessibility statement: Develop a detailed accessibility statement for all video content, clearly outlining compliance measures and providing channels for user feedback, ensuring continuous improvement and adherence to the EAA’s evolving requirements.
5. Best Practice: Because of the overlapping and sometimes unclear requirements between the EAA and AVMSD, organizations are safest when they comply with the stricter EAA standards where applicable. Defaulting to greater accessibility not only supports broader inclusion but also reduces legal risk.

This blog post is written for educational and general information purposes only and does not constitute specific legal advice. This blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

About the author

Elisa Lewis

Elisa Lewis is a Senior Marketing Manager at 3Play Media, where she leads content and brand strategy. She is passionate about accessibility, storytelling, and building connections through communication.

The post Ultimate Guide to the European Accessibility Act (EAA) for Video appeared first on 3Play Media.

Blog

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• Audio Description

What Is Audio Description?

Elisa Lewis

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February 24, 2025

Imagine trying to enjoy a TV show, movie, or live performance, but not being able to see it. It would be challenging to gain a complete understanding of what is happening. You would most likely miss crucial information that is expressed visually through gestures, character actions, or scenery, rather than through audio. There is an exorbitant amount of detail that can be conveyed in a single image. This scenario is precisely why audio description (AD) is such an important tool.

Beginner’s Guide to Audio Description [Free eBook]

What is Audio Description?

For individuals who are blind or have low vision, audio description is the key to revealing detailed information that sighted people consume without a thought.

Audio description (also referred to as “description” or “video description”) is defined as “the verbal depiction of key visual elements in media and live productions.” AD is meant to provide information on visual content that is considered essential to the comprehension of the program. In these cases, not providing AD would inhibit blind and low vision viewers from gaining a complete understanding of a given program or content.

The description of media involves the interspersion of AD snippets within the program’s original audio components, just like the example above. This is to allow the individual the benefit of the description, without diminishing the information in the existing content.

How Do You Create Audio Description?

Audio description can be created using several different approaches, each with its own pros and cons. The two distinct steps of creating audio description are writing the script and voicing the description.

Writing the Script

• Human-Written Descriptions – A trained describer writes the AD script manually to ensure accuracy and clarity.
• AI-Generated Descriptions – Automated tools create AD scripts; however, quality can vary.
• Hybrid Approach: AI + Human Review – A hybrid model balances efficiency and accuracy by using AI-generated descriptions that are edited by humans.

Voicing Audio Description (Output Format)

• Human-Voiced AD – A professional voice artist records the descriptions.
• Synthesized Speech AD – Text-to-speech software generates a synthetic voice to read the AD script.

Regardless of the method used, it’s essential to follow best practices and audio description standards outlined by the Described Media and Captioning Project (DCMP) description key.

3Play Media’s AI Audio Description

3Play Media’s AI-Enabled Audio Description solution leverages advanced AI to both script and voice descriptions. This process provides a scalable and cost-effective way to make content more accessible. Unlike traditional methods that break videos into sections, 3Play’s process ensures the AI analyzes the entire video holistically.

Our patented solution was developed with deep involvement from 3Play Media’s expert human describers. This means that even the AI-generated descriptions are crafted with the best practices for high-quality, nuanced description in order to maintain the accuracy and richness of human-created content. Users can choose to edit the AI-generated script within the platform or upgrade to human review for additional quality assurance. 

Learn More About 3Play Media’s AI Audio Description →

How Do You Publish AD?

Publishing audio description can present technical challenges, but there are multiple solutions to ensure content is accessible:

• User-Selectable Audio Track with Description – Most devices can’t merge multiple soundtracks, so this method lets users replace the original audio with a version that includes audio description. On platforms that support multiple tracks, a separate description-only track can be used.
• Pre-Mixed Versions – The AD is integrated directly into the main audio track for seamless playback.
• Pre-Mixed Extended AD Versions – Additional pauses allow for more detailed descriptions in complex scenes.
• Static Text Alternative – This method is considered an alternative to audio descriptions, and is best used for media that doesn’t have important time-based information in the original video portion of the media.
• WebVTT Description Track – A text-based alternative that screen readers can process.

Each method has its own technical requirements depending on streaming platforms, media players, and compliance regulations. Ensuring compatibility with WCAG 2.1 and accessibility laws is crucial when implementing AD solutions.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) lists several sufficient techniques for adding description to audio-visual material. All of these methods are reliable ways to meet the WCAG Success Criterion.

This blog post was originally published in 2017 and has since been updated for accuracy and clarity.

About the author

Elisa Lewis

Elisa Lewis is a Senior Marketing Manager at 3Play Media, where she leads content and brand strategy. She is passionate about accessibility, storytelling, and building connections through communication.

The post What Is Audio Description? appeared first on 3Play Media.

Blog

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• Industry Trends

Press Release: 3Play Media Study Reveals Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) Engines are Fine Tuning After a Year of Massive Improvement

Elisa Lewis

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June 20, 2024

2024 State of ASR Report

About the author

Elisa Lewis

Elisa Lewis is a Senior Marketing Manager at 3Play Media, where she leads content and brand strategy. She is passionate about accessibility, storytelling, and building connections through communication.

The post Press Release: 3Play Media Study Reveals Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) Engines are Fine Tuning After a Year of Massive Improvement appeared first on 3Play Media.

Blog

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• Captioning

Closed Captions and Subtitles for Film Festivals

Elisa Lewis

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July 2, 2022

Beginner’s Guide to Closed Captions [FREE GUIDE]

Screening a film at any festival is an exciting yet emotional process for most filmmakers. It’s often the culmination of years of hard work, perseverance, and dedication to their craft. Media accessibility –  a critical step to ensure each film is accessible to all members of an audience – is often one of the final steps in the process of preparing a film screening. This blog will discuss all of the things you need for your next festival screening, including closed captions, localization, or post-production scripts.

Closed Captioning for Film Festivals

Closed captioning is a great start and often a given in film festivals to ensure a D/deaf and hard of hearing audience can experience your film. If you haven’t already been provided with style and technical requirements for captions, reach out to your film festival point of contact and ask for these specs. They will typically include information on how captions should be formatted and what deliverables are accepted by the festival. 

 Learn More About Captions in This FREE Guide:  

Translation and Subtitles for Film Festivals

Now let’s think about the language of your content. Are there foreign languages spoken in your film? Foreign words on-screen that should be translated? Or is the film festival considered to be international? You may need translation or subtitling services, such as forced narrative subtitles, which translate specific parts of foreign dialogue or on-screen text to aid in viewer comprehension. Multilingual subtitles are another option that not only provide greater inclusivity and understanding, but also open the door to presenting your art on a global scale regardless of festival requirements.

Are your film festival specs also asking for post-production scripts? Can you just submit your film’s screenplay? Unfortunately not, as post-production scripts are designed to include exactly what is in the final cut of your film. Again, this where you’ll want to check in with the film festival specs. What kind of post-production script does the festival require? Is there a sample they can provide? Dialogue lists are a great example of post-production scripts that are requested on the international film festival circuit. These scripts provide verbatim dialogue transcription attributed by speakers, plus credits and musical cues, and are optimal for language translations.

Tips for Film Festival Accessibility

It’s important to remember that specs or schedules for film festivals may change at the last minute, especially in a world of live, virtual, and hybrid events. Here are a few key tips that can ease your prep process.

• Plan ahead by building time into your production schedule to allow for your access services to be created.
• Upon submission or acceptance into your film festival, confirm any media accessibility specs with your festival contact.
• Keep these specs on hand when setting your project up with your media accessibility provider.

With 3Play Media, we’ll focus on making your content accessible at any film festival you’re featured in so you can concentrate on the art of filmmaking.

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Get Started with Video Translation and Subtitling Today

About the author

Elisa Lewis

Elisa Lewis is a Senior Marketing Manager at 3Play Media, where she leads content and brand strategy. She is passionate about accessibility, storytelling, and building connections through communication.

The post Closed Captions and Subtitles for Film Festivals appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Legislation & Compliance

What You Need to Know About the AODA

Elisa Lewis

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July 1, 2022

Read this blog in French | Lire ce blog en français

How the AODA Impacts Web and Online Video Accessibility [Free Ebook]

On January 1, 2021, Canadians and accessibility enthusiasts celebrated more than just a new year; they also marked a new phase of the AODA. 

By the date above, all public websites and web content, including video content, posted after January 1, 2012, were required to meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA guidelines.

What is the AODA?

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, otherwise known as the AODA, is an accessibility law based in Ontario, Canada, and it regulates standards across government, public, and private sectors. It was enacted in 2005 to create a barrier-free Ontario by 2025.

Under the AODA, all large private and non-profit organizations with 50 or more employees and all public sector organizations are required to make their websites accessible. 

According to the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services, 1 in 7 Ontarians has a disability, which is expected to rise in the coming years. 

To attain the goal of a barrier-free Ontario, the AODA has set forth a series of implementation phases to reach full compliance by 2025.

If companies aren’t proactive about accessibility, there are penalties for failing to comply with the law. Corporations can face significant fines of up to $100,000 for each day they aren’t compliant with the AODA. 

Additionally, directors and officers can be found liable for fines of up to $50,000 for each day their organization fails to comply.

Learn how the AODA impacts web and video accessibility in Ontario

The AODA and WCAG 2.0

The AODA mandates that web content and online video must conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 AA success criteria with two exceptions: criteria 1.2.4 (live captions) and criteria 1.2.5 (audio descriptions). WCAG is the internationally accepted standard for website accessibility developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

When organizations follow WCAG standards, they make their content accessible to users with disabilities. Considering the fact that 71% of people with disabilities leave a website immediately if it’s inaccessible, following WCAG will help attract and retain visitors to your site. 

Each WCAG guideline has three levels of compliance: level A, AA, and AAA. Level AA is considered the industry standard for web accessibility and is referenced in many laws and policies worldwide, including the AODA. 

Are your videos compliant with the AODA?

Producing WCAG-Compliant Videos

For video content to comply with WCAG 2.0 Level AA, it must be made accessible with captions and audio description.

For time-based media, like online video content, here’s what your organization needs to provide: 

Since WCAG is backward compliant, to meet Level AA standards, you must meet Level A standards as well. 

The Roadmap to Video Accessibility

The journey toward achieving accessibility may seem challenging, but with the right tools and resources, you’ll be well-equipped to give all Ontarians access to your website and video content.

This post was originally published on August 21, 2020, by Elisa Lewis and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

This blog post is written for educational and general information purposes only and does not constitute specific legal advice. This blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

About the author

Elisa Lewis

Elisa Lewis is a Senior Marketing Manager at 3Play Media, where she leads content and brand strategy. She is passionate about accessibility, storytelling, and building connections through communication.

The post What You Need to Know About the AODA appeared first on 3Play Media.

Blog

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• Audio Description

How Much Does Audio Description Cost?

Elisa Lewis

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June 3, 2022

Questions to Ask Your AD Vendor [Free Checklist]

From the education industry to the entertainment industry, cost is a leading barrier to providing accessible content across all markets. Audio description is often misunderstood as an accommodation, and it can be difficult for those unfamiliar with the process to understand how this can impact audio description’s cost.

Let’s break down the cost of audio description.

Is Audio Description’s Cost a Barrier to Accessibility?

Despite the legal requirements to implement audio description into web media content, many do not comply – often because creating accessible content takes a lot of time, and can involve the use of costly tools and technologies.

Typically, decision-makers are hesitant to spend money and resources on creating content that is accessible to individuals with disabilities until they’re certain there is a need for such (for instance, if they receive an accommodation request or someone files a lawsuit against them).

The lawsuit filed against the producers of Broadway’s “Hamilton” for failure to provide audio description is a prime example of this. While the producers of the show probably didn’t have bad intentions – and surely wanted their show to reach a large audience – they neglected to provide AD simply because of the cost and not foreseeing a significant need/demand for the accommodation.

Benefits of Audio Description

Audio description (AD) is most commonly known as an accommodation for blind and low vision individuals, but it can also prove beneficial for sighted people as well. Implementing audio description can lend itself to improved learning outcomes, particularly with those on the autistic spectrum – in some instances, AD can better convey social and/or emotional cues which may be otherwise difficult for someone on the spectrum to pinpoint.

AD allows anyone to go “eyes-free,” meaning that users have the ability to multitask while they listen and follow along without missing crucial visual information. Furthermore, research shows that the brain processes auditory information differently and that viewers can actually be “tricked” by a psychological phenomenon called inattentional blindness.

Cost of Audio Description

Audio description’s cost can vary greatly from provider to provider, and even from video to video! This fluctuation largely depends on which method of AD is necessary to yield the best result – for example, some videos have no spoken audio and thus require a lot of description, while others have only brief silences or pauses where the description must be inserted carefully and deliberately.

Creating high-quality audio description clearly requires a lot of time, attention to detail, and a high level of skill. Because of the expertise and equipment required to produce audio description, it can quickly become costly. With prices significantly higher than the cost of closed captioning – ranging from $15 to $75 per minute – many don’t have the budget to regularly implement audio description on video content. If you have multiple hours of content to audio-describe, these costs can add up quickly.

How Process Dictates Cost of Audio Description

The process for creating audio description varies; however, traditional audio description providers use humans for the entire workflow. In most cases, writers create the transcript for description, and human voice actors then deliver the description within the specified timecodes (for extended description, the amount of time allotted to writing and voice acting can increase dramatically).

Human voice talent can be quite expensive, and the media industry’s unionization requirements often raise the cost even higher. In addition to voice actors, paying the writers can also be costly considering they’re skilled laborers requiring high wages. On top of labor costs, the cost of equipment necessary to record, implement, and publish audio description is usually not even included in description pricing.

Despite generally high prices, however, there are measures that can be taken to bring the cost of audio description down (and subsequently make the accommodation more widely available). One of the primary ways to reduce costs is to take advantage of the current accessible technologies available.

Choosing the right AD workflow is hard. Learn how in our free guide

Incorporate Technology to Bring Costs Down

3Play Media takes a new approach to audio description, using the best of both worlds – real, human describers and the best in machine technology – to bring costs down. Combining humans and technology has always been a part of our captioning process, so we wondered why it couldn’t work for audio description as well? We use a combination of humans and technology in every step of the process, in order to make the process of writing and time coding audio description easier, faster, and more cost-effective.

Additionally, we use human describers who are certified to write high-quality descriptions, and then synthesized speech vocalizes these descriptions. One of the hidden costs of audio description is the resource-intensive process of publishing audio description – with the 3Play plugin, we’ve eliminated the need to duplicate your video with audio description.

When using a combination of human editing and advanced technology, the cost of audio description can be decreased greatly without sacrificing quality.

Finding an audio description vendor doesn’t have to be difficult when you know the right questions to ask.

About the author

Elisa Lewis

Elisa Lewis is a Senior Marketing Manager at 3Play Media, where she leads content and brand strategy. She is passionate about accessibility, storytelling, and building connections through communication.

The post How Much Does Audio Description Cost? appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Captioning

8 Benefits of Video Transcription & Captioning

Elisa Lewis

•

March 3, 2022

The reasons why you should add closed captions and include transcripts to your video content are almost innumerable, but we can count at least eight. Closed captioning and transcription offer benefits to your organization and your viewers alike – and not only those who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing! Learn more and check out the top 8 benefits of transcription and captioning:

1. Accessibility for d/Deaf or hard of hearing viewers

Given that closed captions were originally developed as an accommodation to provide an equivalent entertainment experience for d/Deaf and hard of hearing people, it makes sense that content accessibility is arguably the most important benefit of transcription. Captions are time-synchronized text that accompanies video content, and transcripts are the complete plain text version of all captions generated.

In combination, transcription and captioning provide a critical alternative for the 48 million Americans with hearing loss and the 360 million people worldwide who experience disabling hearing loss. Quite simply, closed captions allow these viewers to consume your video content, granting them access and simultaneously increasing your audience.

2. Compliance with legal requirements

It’s estimated that as many as 60% of those Americans with hearing loss are a member of the workforce or a part of an educational setting. In order to protect the rights of disabled people and ensure their access to the same resources as the rest of the population, several anti-discrimination laws have been enacted in the United States. Some of those laws require that videos include closed captions when published publicly so that they are fully accessible, but standards for broadcast television and media are strictly regulated by the FCC.

Closed captioning requirements are written directly into Section 508 of The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and are often extended to apply to Section 504. Many states have “mini 508” laws as well. The Section 508 refresh was released in January 2017, and now references WCAG 2.0 guidelines as the accessibility standards to meet, which includes both captioning and audio description requirements.

Over the last decade, many organizations have been sued for failing to provide comprehensive captioning for online video and audio content. Generally speaking, the best way to avoid being part of this legal battle is to proactively transcribe and caption your videos.

3. Improved audience comprehension

Students in online learning environments regularly reap the benefits of video transcription and captioning. In a national research study conducted with Oregon State University, it was reported that 52% of students found captions helpful as a learning aid by improving comprehension. Ben Labrum, Senior Product Manager for Training On Demand at Oracle, touts the benefits of captioning and transcribing all of Oracle’s online training videos:

52% of students found captions helpful as a learning aid by improving comprehension.

Closed captions can greatly enhance the experience for viewers whose native language is not English. In the same study with Oregon State University, 66% of those students who are learning English as a second language reported that they find captions “very” or “extremely” helpful, as captions allow them to read along while they listen. Watching videos with captions can also help children improve their literacy. A study by Michigan State University concluded that “captions are beneficial because they result in greater depth of processing by focusing attention, reinforce the acquisition of vocabulary through multiple modalities, and allow learners to determine meaning through the unpacking of language chunks.”

4. Flexible viewing in sound-sensitive environments

With closed captions on, viewers can watch your videos in places where audio is unavailable. If someone’s on a noisy train or on a crowded street, captions will convey the speech when the sound is obscured. Captions also let viewers enjoy videos on mute in quiet environments like a library, office, or on the train.

Autoplaying videos on silent is a common practice amongst social media platforms these days. According to Digiday, 85% of Facebook videos are played without sound. However, without sound – or captions – viewers will not be able to understand your content.

5. Increased SEO and video views

A study with This American Life (TAL) proved that adding transcripts boosts SEO. Search engines can’t watch videos, but adding transcripts allows search engines to crawl the full text of your audio or video content so that is can be properly indexed. The number of unique visitors who discovered TAL through organic search results increased by 6.68%. They also saw a 3.89% increase in inbound links directly attributable to the transcript pages. A separate study by Discovery Digital Networks showed that YouTube videos with captions had 13.48% more views in the first two weeks and 7.32% more lifetime views, as compared to videos without captions. Long transcripts can be paginated and optimized for specific keywords to further optimize search rank.

6. Enhanced video search and user experience

Transcripts make your video content vastly more searchable. Not only can search engines crawl your content and drive traffic to your site, but viewers on your site can find the videos they’re looking for. An interactive transcript allows users to search for keywords within the transcript, and see everywhere that keyword appears. If there is a particular spot in the video a user wants to jump to, all they have to do is click the word, and the video will start playing at that spot. In a study by MIT OpenCourseWare, 97% of students said interactive transcripts enhanced their learning experience. In addition to searching for a given word within one video, you can even scan your whole video library for that keyword using playlist search. That seamless user experience boosts user experience and overall customer satisfaction.

7. Easier creation of derivative content

Market researchers and content creators use recorded video or audio to create clips, reels, and montages, but sifting through that content without the aid of transcripts is a daunting task. Transcripts are easily scanned and searched for key phrases or topics; direct quotes can be lifted with a simple copy-paste to be used as testimonials. Additionally, transcripts can be turned into outlines for a report, or study guides for students to use.

8. Convenient translation into foreign languages

Getting your video content transcribed is the first step in creating subtitles in foreign languages. In today’s global world, the Internet is at the center of it all. A whopping 80% of YouTube views come from outside the U.S., and eight of the top 10 countries with the most YouTube users are non-English speaking countries – necessarily, video translation is in high demand. In addition to helping your content reach a wider audience, translated transcripts and captions can also boost SEO.

Want to learn more about the potential benefits of transcription?

About the author

Elisa Lewis

Elisa Lewis is a Senior Marketing Manager at 3Play Media, where she leads content and brand strategy. She is passionate about accessibility, storytelling, and building connections through communication.

The post 8 Benefits of Video Transcription & Captioning appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Captioning

How to Force YouTube Closed Captions & Subtitles ‘On’

Elisa Lewis

•

November 29, 2021

Have you ever wondered how to add captions to your organization’s Youtube videos, or wished that you could make people watch your video with captions? Well, we can show you just how to do that! There are a few possible reasons you might want to force captions to appear automatically on your YouTube videos:

3 Reasons to Force Closed Captions ‘On’

To begin with, you might want to force captions on if your original audio quality is poor. If there’s too much background noise or the sound is muffled and quiet, captions allow viewers to read along (rather than losing viewers because they can’t hear what’s happening).

Another reason to force captions on depends on whether the speaker in your video is hard to understand. For example, if they have a thick accent, speak quickly, or are discussing complex content. In these instances, forcing captions on will help with viewer comprehension and (hopefully) increase viewer retention.

The third reason to force captions on is for accessibility reasons. Captions allow people to view your videos in sound-sensitive environments, allow people with hearing impairments to follow your content, and make English content much easier to understand for non-native speakers. It may be additionally useful to force captions on – rather than just giving users the option to toggle on/off – because some users may not know captions are an option, or simply don’t think to turn them on.

Learn the benefits of captions & transcripts

How to Add Captions to YouTube Videos (& Force Them On)

If you’d like to embed your YouTube video on your website and you want to force on closed captions, you need to add “cc_load_policy=1” to the end of the source URL inside the iframe. The following image shows an example of this inclusion:

How to Force Closed Captions in Other Languages

You can also force captions or subtitles to appear in a different language, using an embed on your website. This is most useful if your site exists in multiple languages – this way, you can show the same video but force different languages to appear when appropriate.

In order to do this, you must first upload the language file to your YouTube video. First, find the appropriate language code. For example, if you’d like captions to appear in Spanish, the code is es. Before the captioning snippet “cc_load_policy=1” in the iframe embed, you’ll now add “&hl=es&cc_lang_pref=es” (using the desired language code where appropriate).

Note that “hl” component sets the language for text features in the YouTube video, and “cc_lang_pref” sets the language for the captions of the video. This is what the full embed code would look like for a video in which you want to force captions to appear in Spanish:

It’s better to be safe than sorry – always remember to test the embed codes before publishing!

About the author

Elisa Lewis

Elisa Lewis is a Senior Marketing Manager at 3Play Media, where she leads content and brand strategy. She is passionate about accessibility, storytelling, and building connections through communication.

The post How to Force YouTube Closed Captions & Subtitles ‘On’ appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Captioning

6 YouTube Captioning and Subtitling Hacks You Need to Try

Elisa Lewis

•

September 30, 2021

Automate Your YouTube Captioning [Learn About the Integration]

If you really want to up your YouTube game, you should consider adding captions.

Over 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. That’s a lot of content, which, unfortunately, isn’t always captioned.

When it comes to YouTube, captions are a powerful tool. Captions can help engage your audience, boost SEO, reach wider audiences, and increase views. Discovery Digital Networks saw a 7.3% increase in views on YouTube when they added captions to their videos.

A research study from the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science even found that captions improve brand recall, verbal memory, and behavioral intent.

Most importantly, captions make your videos accessible to people who are d/Deaf and hard of hearing.

With YouTube, you can easily add captions to your videos, and there are plenty of hacks for captioning that can help take your videos to a whole new level. Let’s dive in!

YouTube Hack #1: Auto Translate Captions

Using Google Translate, YouTube will automatically translate your caption file into other languages.

To use this feature, your video will need to have an original caption file. There are many ways to create captions. You can DIY them, use YouTube’s automatic captioning feature, or submit your file to a captioning company.

Once you have your caption file uploaded to your video, you are ready to translate!

Here’s how to do it:

1. Head over to your YouTube Studio
2. From the menu on the left, click the Subtitles tab
3. Select the video you want to translate

4. If you haven’t selected the language for the video you intend to translate, you’ll be asked to choose and the language and confirm

5. Select Add Language and choose the language you’d like to translate to

6. Under “Title & description”, click Add

7. Enter the translated title and description, and select Publish!

YouTube Captioning Hack #2: Reposition captions on a video

Is the caption placement obstructing an important visual element in the YouTube video you are watching? If so, YouTube has a workaround for that.

Using your mouse, you can drag captions and place them all around the video screen.

You can do this with any video that has captions available, not just the ones that you own.

YouTube Captioning Hack #3: Use keyboard shortcuts for adjusting captions

Keyboard usability is so important.

These shortcuts give access to people who can’t rely on a mouse, including people who are blind or low vision, and people with motor disabilities.

Unfortunately, many video players fail on keyboard accessibility.

But while YouTube still has some kinks to work out, they do have some easy keyboard shortcuts for captioning.

Using your C key, you can turn captions on or off.

To increase the size of the captions, use the + (plus) key. To decrease the size of the captions, use the – (minus) key.

 Learn about 3Play’s YouTube integration  

YouTube Captioning Hack #4: Use live stenographers for YouTube Live Stream

YouTube has been slowly rolling out automatic English captions for live streams with accounts that have over 1,000 subcribers.

But since automatic captioning is far from perfect, YouTube allows you to have live stenographers.

Here’s how you can deploy this feature:

1. Under your YouTube Creator Studio, select Live Streaming, then Events.

2. Select New live event.

3. Fill out the appropriate details for your event. Under Type select Custom.

4. Next, head over to Advanced Settings and scroll to the bottom. Under Added delay, add a 30s or 60s delay to your broadcast.

5. Under Stream optimizations, make sure to select Normal latency.

6. Then click Create event.

7. Once you’ve selected your ‘stream key,’ a Closed Captions menu will appear. Select POST captions to URL.

8. A link will appear that you can share with your live captioners when you go live!

YouTube Captioning Hack #5: View videos with a transcript

YouTube also allows you to view videos with a transcript. The transcript plays along with the video; you can also select specific lines and skip to that part of the video.

Here’s how to add a transcript:

1. Under the video player, select the ellipsis “more” icon (…).

2. Select Open transcript.

A transcript will pop up on the right-hand side.

YouTube Captioning Hack #6: Manage caption settings for your device

When available, you can toggle captions on or off across different devices for YouTube videos. You can also choose to “Show automatic captions by speech recognition” when available. This feature works for your computer, Android, iPhone, and Ipad.

Here’s how it works:

This post was originally published by Sofia Leiva on Mar 29, 2018, and has since been updated for accuracy, clarity, and freshness.

About the author

Elisa Lewis

Elisa Lewis is a Senior Marketing Manager at 3Play Media, where she leads content and brand strategy. She is passionate about accessibility, storytelling, and building connections through communication.

The post 6 YouTube Captioning and Subtitling Hacks You Need to Try appeared first on 3Play Media.

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• Accessibility

Deep Dive on Major Web Accessibility Laws

Elisa Lewis

•

July 30, 2021

There are about one billion people, or 15% of the global population, living with some form of disability who directly benefit from accessibility laws. 

According to The World Bank, individuals with disabilities are more likely to experience fewer opportunities for employment, higher poverty rates, less education, and poorer health outcomes. 

Accessibility barriers hinder people with disabilities from fully participating in society. Social and economic exclusion are typically due to inaccessible places, goods, or services. 

Although a disability may create challenges for an individual, they must often have to deal with how others fail to acknowledge or accommodate their disability. 

World governments realize that in order to create an equitable and fair society, there need to be laws in place to protect people with disabilities. Below, we discuss the major accessibility laws that protect individuals with disabilities within the United States and around the world. 

Read the Ebook: How the ADA Impacts Online Video Accessibility

The United States Web Accessibility Laws

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a broad anti-discrimination law for people with disabilities in all public life – such as places of employment, education, transportation, and public and private organizations. 

Enacted in 1990, the ADA sought to ensure that people with disabilities have the same rights as citizens without disabilities. 

Disabilities covered under the ADA include physical (i.e. muscular dystrophy, dwarfism, etc.), sensory (i.e. blindness, deafness, etc.), and cognitive (i.e. Down Syndrome). In 2008, the ADA was broadened to cover psychological, emotional, and physiological disabilities as well.  

The ADA is divided into five sections, called titles, related to different areas of public life. 

For the purpose of this article, we’ll discuss the two titles that relate most to web accessibility, Title II and Title III. 

Title II

Title II of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by all public entities at the federal, state, and local levels (i.e. public schools, police departments, public libraries, etc.). 

Government organizations must ensure “effective communication” with citizens, which means providing assistive technology or services as needed. 

Title II mandates that state and local governments:

• May not refuse to allow a person with a disability to participate in a service, program, or activity simply because the person has a disability 
• Must provide programs and services in an integrated setting, unless separate or different measures are necessary to ensure equal opportunity 
• Must furnish auxiliary aids and services when necessary to ensure effective communication, unless an undue burden or fundamental alteration would result 
• Must operate programs so that when viewed in their entirety, they are readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities 

Whether it’s for entertainment or informational purposes, governments must make publicly available and internal videos accessible – which means including closed captioning and audio description. Additionally, websites should also be fully accessible for both users and employees. 

Title III

Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination by places of public accommodation. Examples include universities, museums, hotels, and restaurants.  

In order for a business or organization to be classified as a “place of public accommodation,” it must follow the following criteria:

• Must be operated by a private entity
• Its operations must affect commerce

A place of public accommodations must also fall within one of the following 12 categories:

1. Places of lodging
2. Establishments serving food or drink
3. Places of exhibition or entertainment
4. Places of public gathering
5. Sales or rental establishments
6. Service establishments
7. Stations used for specified public transportation
8. Places of public display or collection
9. Places of recreation
10. Places of education
11. Social service center establishments
12. Places of exercise and recreation

Under Title III, no individual can be discriminated against based on their disability. They have the right to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods and services provided by any business or organization. 

Before the rise of the internet, it was assumed that the ADA only applied to physical structures, like a brick and mortar store. However, lawsuits against private companies for providing inaccessible websites, services, or digital communications have created a precedent that the ADA also applies to the internet and online businesses. 

Note: the ADA was revised in November 2016 by Attorney General Loretta Lynch to include providing auxiliary aids and services for people with disabilities, as well as providing closed captioning and audio descriptions for showings in movie theaters. 

 Discover how the ADA impacts online video accessibility 

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

The Rehabilitation Act was enacted in 1973 and prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by federal agencies, programs that receive federal funding, in federal employment, and in the employment practices of federal contractors. 

Out of all the accessibility laws in the U.S., The Rehabilitation Act has the most direct impact on federal agencies when it comes to protecting people with disabilities. 

The Rehabilitation Act contains several sections. We’ll talk about the two sections that pertain the most to web accessibility: Section 504 and Section 508. 

Section 504

Section 504 prohibits federal government entities from discriminating on the basis of disability. It explicitly states that organizations that receive federal funding should provide accommodations to persons with disabilities in order to ensure equal access. 

Section 508

Section 508 requires that electronic communications and information technologies – like emails, websites, and web documents – be accessible to people with disabilities. 

The law does not make exceptions. Organizations must make their content accessible unless there is an “undue burden”. For example, if there is a company that creates training videos for employees, but can’t afford to include closed captions, they will not be penalized. However, they must provide an alternative like a transcript or sign language interpreter. 

Section 508 has been influenced by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). It adopted some of the guidelines, but not everything. WCAG is a far more detailed standard than 508.  

In January 2017, Section 508 was refreshed to modernize the law. Now it directly references WCAG 2.0 level AA success criteria for web content, web applications, software, and documents. 

*Note: The most up-to-date WCAG guidelines are WCAG 2.1.

21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA)

The CVAA was passed in 2010 and addresses closed captioning for online video. It applies to all online video that previously aired on U.S. television with closed captions. 

The CVAA applies to streaming services that distribute T.V. shows online, as well as movie trailers and montages. Clips and montages of live programming are allowed a 12-hour delay after the programming has been shown on T.V. For clips of near-live programming, an 8-hour delay is allowed. 

Video content must comply with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) closed captioning regulations, including quality standards for timing, placement, accuracy, and completeness. 

The FCC regulates interstate and international communication via television, radio, and the internet.

State Accessibility Laws

Many states have adopted Section 508 federal regulations into their own laws. These are called “mini-508s,” and they require that state government entities comply with federal accessibility standards.

There are some states that have created their own accessibility laws based on Section 508 or other standards. 

Canada Web Accessibility Laws 

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

The AODA was instituted in 2005 to regulate accessibility standards for government and business sectors in Ontario. Its objective is to make Ontario barrier-free by the year 2025 so that everyone can fully participate in society.

The AODA has five different areas of business:

1. Customer Service: All organizations that provide goods or services in Ontario 
2. Employment: Accessibility will become a regular part of finding, hiring, and supporting employees with disabilities 
3. Information and Communications: All web content must be accessible according to WCAG 2.0, and all other resources and materials must be provided in accessible formats 
4. Transportation: Conventional and specialized transportation services must be physically accessible and must provide accessible information
5. Design of Public Spaces: Barriers must be removed from buildings and designed public spaces  

Considered the most progressive accessibility law in the world, the AODA requires WCAG 2.0 compliance for every public and private institution except for private organizations with fewer than 50 people. 

Under the AODA, closed captioning is required for all video content. 

Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission

In 2007, Canada’s broadcasting industry established two closed captioning working groups under the direction of the CRTC. 

The goal of the CRTC was to form captioning standards that ensure consistency and reliability throughout the Canadian broadcasting system. 

The CRTC requires that most broadcasters caption 100% of their programs during a broadcast day – between 6 am and midnight. Broadcasters also have to ensure advertisements and overnight (midnight – 6 am) programs are captioned.  

The accuracy standard set by CRTC

• Pre-recorded must strive for 100% accuracy
• Live programming strive for 85% in French and 95% in English (due to closed captioning techniques used by each market) 

 Learn more about the ADA and online video accessibility. Download the ebook  

The United Kingdom Web Accessibility Laws

The Equality Act

The EQA is Britain’s landmark anti-discrimination law and is comparable to the U.S.’s ADA. It consolidated 116+ laws into one single bill. 

The EQA protects individuals regardless of disability and requires employers to make “reasonable adjustments” to accommodate people with disabilities. 

Similar to the ADA, the EQA doesn’t directly mention web accessibility. However, there’s a growing consensus that websites must be fully accessible. Companies and organizations, including public entities and universities, who don’t comply may be sued for discrimination. 

British National Standard (8878)

The BSI, published in 2010, sets standards for goods and services in Britain. 

It covers accessibility standards for all web products including websites, cloud-based software, web applications, and email. 

The BSI outlines an actionable accessibility strategy and even provides a template for writing your organization’s accessibility policy statement. 

Communications Act of 2003

This act grants Ofcom the full authority of telecommunications and broadcast media in the U.K. 

Similar to the FCC in the U.S., Ofcom regulates communications services like T.V., radio, and on-demand streaming services. 

The Communications Act of 2003 increased requirements to provide “television access services” like subtitling, sign language, and audio description for video content. 

Australia Web Accessibility Laws

Broadcasting Services Act

The Broadcasting Services Act gave the Australian parliament power to set requirements for closed captioning of broadcast media. 

It specifies caption compliance for public T.V. Programs aired between 6 am and midnight, including news and current affairs footage, must be 100% captioned. 

Disability Discrimination Act of 1992

The Disability Discrimination Act protects the civil rights of individuals with disabilities and mandates certain accommodations that should be provided. All goods, services, and facilities must be accessible. 

Violations are considered discrimination and can be reported to the Australian Human Rights Commission for disciplinary action. 

“It is unlawful for a person who, whether for payment or not, provides goods or services, or makes facilities available, to discriminate against another person on the ground of the other person’s disability” 

New Zealand Web Accessibility Laws

Web Accessibility Standard

The Web Accessibility Standard of New Zealand sets inclusive web design requirements. This Standard is based on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, the international standard for web accessibility.

The federal government adheres to both an official Web Accessibility Standard and a Web Usability Standard.

Under the Web Accessibility Standard, web video must be WCAG 2.1 AA compliant. This means providing closed captioning for pre-recorded content with a grace period of 10 business days. 

Live captioning is required for “high stakes” information, like public safety announcements or election news. 

Want to learn more about how the ADA impacts online video accessibility? Download our ebook:

This blog post is written for educational and general information purposes only and does not constitute specific legal advice. This blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

This post was originally published by Samantha Sauld on June 27, 2019, and has since been updated.

About the author

Elisa Lewis

Elisa Lewis is a Senior Marketing Manager at 3Play Media, where she leads content and brand strategy. She is passionate about accessibility, storytelling, and building connections through communication.

The post Deep Dive on Major Web Accessibility Laws appeared first on 3Play Media.