Making videos accessible

The more you can design your video to maximise accessibility, the easier it will be for all audiences to comprehend your messages and information.

This section covers:

Planning your video

When producing a video, tips to achieve accessibility are to:

  • choose an effective combination of colours and contrast levels against the background

  • avoid patterned backgrounds and strobe effects

  • not convey information using colour only 

  • ensure that audio levels of content (eg talking) are high enough relative to background sound or music

  • align the time on screen with the complexity of visual components such as diagrams, figures and maps

  • provide an alternative format of the video’s content, preferably in text or HTML.

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Writing alt text for videos

People with visual or aural impairment may not be able to perceive videos. The alt text should contain a transcript of the audio content and any text elements, and descriptions of visual elements or sequences not adequately described by the audio transcript (as you would do for a still image or figure). It may be appropriate to also provide an audio description, and closed or open captions.

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Additional resources for video accessibility

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