Digital content has become the most significant source of information, knowledge, and entertainment worldwide. Everything from pictures, articles, and music to videos, films, etc., is available online for everyone to enjoy.
However, when the digital content is not made keeping accessibility in mind, it becomes difficult for people with disabilities or learning disorders to fully absorb the content. It also narrows the audience for the web content as many people cannot access it.
Accessible content is an important and responsible part of the digital world and an excellent practice to follow while designing any web content. Accessible content includes audio descriptions, alt texts, closed captions, etc., for all online posts, videos, and articles.
Audio descriptions and closed captions are crucial for accessibility. They ensure that all individuals, regardless of their abilities, can access and understand multimedia content. These features are not only vital for inclusivity but also required by legal standards such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
The ADA mandates equal access to information for people with disabilities, and WCAG standards provide detailed guidelines for making web content accessible, including the need for audio descriptions and captions. Compliance with these regulations helps organizations avoid legal issues and demonstrates a commitment to inclusivity.
What is Audio Description?
An audio description aids people with visual impairment or those with low vision. It provides a narration of the visual elements of any video or film that will help people who cannot see the screen understand the video.
Audio descriptions describe all the actions and non-verbal cues such as background, scenery, objects, facial expressions of people in the video, eye contact, etc. Everything that must be described to understand the content is narrated in-depth.
Audio descriptions are used instead of the original audio and are a great way to make content accessible for everyone, including people with visual impairment.
What is a Closed Caption?
Captions are like subtitles but include additional information such as the background music, sound effects, identifying the speaker, etc. They are more than just a speaker’s dialogue; they describe the whole scene.
This is to help people who have a hearing disability understand the video by reading the captions. After thorough editing, closed captions are included in recorded videos to provide accurate information about the scene displayed.
Closed caption descriptive video services help deaf people or those who are hard of hearing and make them feel included; accessing video content becomes easier.
What's The Difference Between Closed Caption and Audio Descriptions?
Closed Captions and audio descriptions are methods that are used to convey information about any video content to people who cannot access it as it is. Closed captions vs. audio descriptions are choices that will depend on the target audience, as both serve different people.
The best accessibility practice is to provide both in any video content so that most people can access it without any difficulties. The following table shows the difference between closed captions and audio descriptions:
| Consideration | Closed Captions | Audio Descriptions |
|---|---|---|
| Audience | People with a hearing disability or who are hard of hearing. |
People with visual impairment or have low vision. |
| Mode of Incorporation | Closed captions are added to the visuals of the video. | Audio descriptions are added as a separate audio file. |
| Purpose | They are used to describe who is speaking, background sounds, objects in the scene, etc. | These are used to narrate what is happening on the screen, like describing the person’s appearance, facial expressions, background, etc. |
| How Are They Created | Closed captions are added as a subtitle text file, and the original audio of the video does not change. | The audio description file is added in place of the original audio file of the video. |
How Does Continual Engine Help?
Continual Engine’s platform is process-driven. Initially, it generates transcripts, captions, and audio descriptions automatically. Our team of accessibility experts and subject matter specialists then meticulously reviews, edits, and validates them.
Conclusion
Accessibility to online content is essential for making the maximum number of people feel valued and included and giving them exposure to all the information and knowledge available. Audio descriptions for people with visual impairment and closed captions descriptive videos for those with a hearing disability are a big part of the accessibility strategy and need to be included in all the digital content.
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