Video and Audio

Universal Design Goals in Video and Audio

The Universal Design Goals below are based on the Electronic Accessibility Rubric. All employees are expected to work toward meeting Universal Design Goals for their content.

Captions are only as good as the source content. When recording, ensure:

  • Quality audio recording.
  • Quality microphone.
  • Clear speech.

Describe visual content orally during recording (for lectures, presentations, etc.). Ideally, videos should be recorded with narrative included so that additional audio description isn’t necessary.

  • If recording a lecture video, describe what you’re doing or seeing as you lecture.
  • If recording a video with a script, plan ahead and include narratives in the script.
  • Avoid generic phrases such as “this” or “here.”
  • If narratives are impossible, leave space for audio description to be added on purely visual content.

Ensure that any text on the screen has sufficient contrast with the background. This includes:

  • General text
  • Illustrations
  • Transitions and section titles
  • Participant names and titles
  • Captions

Visit the Color Contrast page for more information.

  • If sourcing videos from a third party (YouTube, etc.) ensure that the content has at minimum autogenerated captions.
  • For audio-only material (podcasts, radio broadcasts, etc.) ensure that there is a transcript.
  • Use third-party videos with accurate, human edited captions whenever possible.
  • Use Echo360 to post video and audio files.
    • If using other video platforms, they should have editable auto-captions, interactive and downloadable transcripts, and accessible player controls.
  • Enable transcripts for download in addition to captions.

Interactive transcripts are text that is synchronized alongside a video. Visit the Captions and Transcripts page for more detail on interactive transcripts.

This feature is especially helpful for instructional content. It may not be necessary for shorter marketing type videos. Players that offer interactive transcripts include:

  • Echo360
  • Kaltura
  • 3Play Media
  • YouTube (excluding embedded video)

Manually edit captions and transcripts for accuracy on shorter videos and audio-only material.

Full Accessibility in Video and Audio

Full Accessibility items are necessary to make the content fully accessible. The expectation for employees to work toward full accessibility for their content is dependent on the employee’s role; see the employee responsibilities page for more information. Full Accessibility items may require additional support or alternative access if needed for an accommodation.

Edit captions and transcripts for accuracy on third-party videos with no accurate captions available (if no good alternative exists).

Edit captions and transcripts for accuracy on longer videos (e.g. lecture capture, full conference sessions).

Audio description solutions range from outsourcing to DIY methods. Information about outsourcing can be located in a later section on this page.

  • YouDescribe for YouTube:
    • This is a DIY option for adding audio description to existing YouTube videos.
    • Requires a Google account.
    • The drawback is that the videos are hosted on a separate website from YouTube.

Not all video players have the capability to play an audio description track, and some only work on desktop computers. For those with support, the audio description is in a separate file that can be added as an additional track to the video.

  • Players with native support for AD:
  • A common solution for the lack of native support in video players is to publish a second version of the video with an AD track ‘burned in’ or combined with the original video. This way, you can post the video in any media player.

Audio description is still very expensive and may not be possible for everyone. Another solution is to provide a text transcript of the video that includes both the audio and visual information. This provides the full content of the video for individuals with both hearing and visual impairments.

Start with a transcript based on captions, and then add narrative descriptions as necessary. Keep in mind that you only need to describe meaningful visual information.

Campus Supports

  • Accessible Media Production provides edited captions for campus courses using Echo360.
  • CSU Online Production Team produces edited captions for online courses using Kaltura.

If you have a student with a specific accommodation in your course, they will contact you to coordinate workflows.

If you outsource your captioning or audio description, a separate file will be created that you can upload to a media platform to replace the auto-captions.

Third-party companies provide high quality captioning and audio description services. Check with your IT department to see if they are already using a particular service. These services charge per minute of video. 3Play Media and Rev.com are two companies frequently used at Colorado State University.

  • 3Play Media
    • Request an account through the contact form on this website to receive institutional pricing.
    • The cost is $1.95 per minute for standard turnaround (prices may change).
    • Cost includes transcripts.
    • Audio description is an additional $9 per minute.
  • Rev.com
    • Cost is $1.50 per minute (prices may change).
    • Cost does not include transcripts.
    • Audio description is an additional cost.

Applicable Concepts

Audio description is like alternative text for a video. It’s a narrative explanation of visual or nonverbal information.

More about Audio Description

Captions, or subtitles, provide a visual alternative to audio information. Transcripts provide a structured and accurate text version of audio content for video or audio files.

More about Captions and Transcripts

Color contrast describes how one color stands out from another color. It’s especially important to consider the color contrast between text and its background, and between sections depicting meaning such as pie charts, maps, etc.

More about Color Contrast

All Accessibility Tutorials

Core Concepts

Specific Content Types

Accessibility Tools