Videos are slightly more complicated than audio files in that you also have to take into consideration any sort of imagery that may affect the video’s message. When posting a video, you need to include a full transcript either below the video, on a separate page with a link, or as captions. If the video has images with text that are crucial to the message, that text must also be part of the transcript.
Key Takeaways
All public videos must be uploaded to YouTube before being used on your website.
Captions and transcripts serve to provide equivalent information.
Either captions or a transcript must accompany all videos.
YouTube Requirement
As a district, we require that you upload all of your videos to YouTube before embedded them on your site because YouTube will auto-generate captions while also meeting ADA requirements for video control. The auto-generated captions will not be 100% accurate and will require you to make some adjustments; however, it’s a start and will save you time.
After your video is uploaded to YouTube, you can use a Video block to add it to a page or post on your website.
Equivalent and Accurate Information
The purpose of captions and transcripts are to provide everyone with the same information. Even though YouTube’s auto-generated captions continually improve, they will often result in humorous or embarrassing caption failures, and they certainly don’t take into account proper grammar and punctuation. Automatic captions by themselves are not ADA compliant at the AA level, but they’re a decent start.
If your transcripts and captions are not accurate, then it follows that not everyone is receiving equivalent information. Here are some guidelines to help with that:
Don’t include more than three lines of text on the screen at once.
Text has to be shown between 3 and 7 seconds.
Captions cannot cover any important graphics or visuals (like faces and charts).
The caption font has to be clear and distinguishable.
Captions need to preserve dialect and slang as much as is reasonably possible, and also reflect the exact words of the speaker. (It’s okay to do some light cleanup of filler words like ‘uh, um, etc.,’ so that it reads more easily.)
Any sort of background sounds like music, laughter, and noises have to be included in brackets, for example [laughter] or [ominous music].
If a conversation is happening in a video, and the person off screen is talking, that person’s name needs to appear in capital letters followed by a colon. (BARRY: I’m the fastest man alive.)
For transcripts, there should always be some sort of indicator as to who is talking, usually a single line above the paragraph or their name followed by a colon and then the text.
If using a transcript, and not captions, that transcript needs to be placed directly underneath the video, or on a stand-alone page and a link to that transcript page linked directly below the video.
Visual Elements in Videos
Sometimes a video might have charts or other data presented in them. That information will either need to all be read by the presenter (so that it can be captioned), or a full transcript will need to be provided with that same data available in a text format.
After captions are auto-generated by YouTube, you can export them, check them for accuracy, and then add them to your website either below the video or on a new page, with a link to that page below the video.
Anytime we use an image on the website, we need to include a description using alternate text. Assistive devices use the alternate text to provide information about that image to the people who need it.
Key Takeaways
Every image needs to have alt text
The alt text needs to describe the purpose of the image
If the image is used to convey information (for example, a picture of text), then that information needs to be written out in the alt text or below the image on the page or post itself.
Adding alt text at the moment the image is added to the Media Library ensures that alt text will be used with that image no matter when or where it is used.
Understanding Images and Alt Text
The alt text for images is a very brief explanation of what the purpose of an image is. When an assistive device comes across an image, it will use what’s written in the alt text area to describe the image to the user.
There is no need to use either ‘image of’ or ‘photo of’ in the alt text, as the majority of assistive devices will announce that it’s an image or photo already.
Alt text for an image without text is the easiest; you simply describe the image in as few words as possible.
For an image of a bridge spanning across a large waterfall in a tropical forest, you have a few options.
The important question is, “What is the purpose of this image?” If the purpose is the bridge, the alt text could just be “bridge.”
If the purpose is both the waterfall and the bridge, you could use “bridge over waterfall.”
However, maybe the purpose of the image is the size of the waterfall, or the structure of the bridge, in which case your alt text may be “arched bridge over 500 foot waterfall.”
In the end, the point is to decide why you’re using that image and then to describe the image accordingly. Most assistive device users are grateful for alt text descriptions that are as short as possible.
Images with Text
Whenever an image has text on it, you will need to decide if the text is meaningful to the purpose of the image.
As an example, let’s use the image of a bike next to a long road and a road sign that has “Follow that dream” printed on it.
If the purpose of the image is just to show the bike you could simply write “bike” as the alt text.
If the color of the bike is important to the image’s purpsose, you might write “white bike” in the alt text field.
Or if the purpose is the sign and the bike and road don’t matter you would just write “Follow that dream” as the alt text, or “Follow that dream, road sign.”
Or maybe the purpose in using this image, is everything all together: “White bike next to long road and a ‘Follow that dream’ roadsign.’
Whatever the case keep in sign the same image used in different areas may serve different purposes, and therefore might have different alt texts on each use.
The main question to ask when using an image with text is simply “What is the purpose of this image?” and then to describe it as briefly as possible
Images of Flyers and Posters
Best practice for posters and flyers is to write the text from the flyer and poster directly onto your website so that it can be accessed the same as any other text, and then use a brief description of the poster or flyer in the alt text, along with where they can find the information: “Doughnut Day Flyer. Information in post content.”
Second best practice, if for some reason you’re unable to write the text on the website itself, is to put all—yes all—important information from the poster or flyer into the alt text field.
Complex Images
Examples of complex images are graphs, charts, or pictures of tables and data. In these cases it’s best to write out a description of the data, much like you would for flyers and posters. You can have that data on the same page, or add a supporting link near the image that takes the user to a separate page with a long description.
The long description defines the fields, columns, rows, data sets, etc. on the image and also provides the needed interpretation.
Why This Matters to ADA Compliance
Images with text are all-to-often used to convey important information; however, when text is itself an image, assistive devices cannot read that text.
This effectively keeps any body with visual impairments from being able to access that information.
It also prevents that information from being able to be translated into other languages.
When the content is magnified or reduced, the text on an image does not scale appropriately, and the clarity is compromised.
Whenever possible, avoid using images with text to convey meaning.
How to Add Alt Text to Images
There are multiple ways to add alt text to images, and the way that’s described first is the most efficient. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll be using ‘posts’ as an example even though the process is the same, no matter if it’s a page or a post.
In the body of your post, add an image block by click the block ‘plus’ button or by placing your cursor in the ‘Type / …’ area. (Would type ‘/image’ to add the image block.)
If you don’t immediately see the image block, you can do a search until you do. Select the ‘Image’ block.
Once the image block is in your post body, click the ‘Select Image’ button and choose ‘Media Library.’
Important Note: If you use the ‘Upload’ button, it won’t give you the opportunity to add an Alt Tag in prior to inserting the image onto your page. For this reason, I suggest always using the ‘Select Image’ option, even when uploading a new image.
Once the Media Library screen loads, you can either select an image that’s already in your media library or upload a new one. Either way, after the image is selected (after uploading or simply using one in the Media Library) the image’s details will appear to the right of the image you selected.
Notice that the ‘Alt Text’ field is the first fillable area for an image. This is where you would describe the image for assistive devices.
Important Note: Typing in the alt text at this time will ensure that the same alt text will be used from this point forward each time this image is inserted onto your website. You can still change the alt text on a per-use basis if needed, but by default, this will be the text used each time. If this image was already inserted in a previous post before filling out the Alt Text area, then the website will not go back and retroactively insert the alt text. You will need to either reinsert the image on those pages, or fill in the alt text on a per-use basis.
In the example screenshot given, the image being used is a bike next to a street sign. In my opinion, the text on the street sign is the most important part and when combined with a bike, creates the purpose of the image, so for the alt text, I will write, “Bike next to a ‘Follow that dream’ Street Sign.’
I would then choose ‘Select’ to insert the image into my post.
You can then select that image on your post and the block settings will display (if they don’t display, click the gear icon in the top-right corner of the post edit screen).
In the image block settings, there is an individual field for the Alt Text. It is automatically filled out using the alt text you entered from within the Media Library when you selected the image in the first place. Changing the alt text in this field, only changes it for this instance of the image.
There are also other image-editing options that you can work with to change the image size and alignment in relation to the text around it.
A few final notes on adding alt text to images.
Keep in mind alt text added while in the Media Library will be used whenever that image is inserted. Alt text added to an individual image block’s settings (an image instance), will only be used for that one particular usage. (You could have the same image on the page multiple times, each time with a different alt text.)
Using the ‘Select Image’ button instead of the ‘Upload’ button on an image block will let you add in alt text for the image before adding it into your page. This will save you time in the long run.
Alt text describes the purpose of the image. The point is to make sure anyone with a visual impairment has access to the same information that an image provides.
Links and buttons are considered navigable elements, meaning that when they are activated, they take you to another location.
Key Takeaways
Only links are underlined, do not underline text that is not a link.
Name links and buttons what they are. (Descriptive names, not ‘click here.’)
Name files what they are. If using the download button, rename button.
Naming Links and Buttons
One of the main ways that assistive devices navigate a website is through the use of links. The link text will be read out loud whenever a link is accessed. For this reason, it’s important to name links what they are. If your links are named ‘click here’ or ‘read more,’ not only is it exclusive, but also fails to provide information on what the link does, or where it goes.
As part of the naming, leaving the URL in its raw state will result in the full URL being read. The only time this is appropriate, is if you’re linking to a main, short URL. Otherwise, it’s better to name the link without using ‘www’ or ‘.com’ in the text.
In the case of buttons, sometimes you may want to use a ‘Download’ button. If using the ‘download’ button, be sure to rename the button text so that it indicates what is being downloaded (e.g. Download Dress Code).
By default, the website templates will handle a link’s design appropriately. As long as the default settings are used, links will already be underlined as well as meet color criteria when hovered, clicked, and visited.
Naming & Linking Files
By default, WordPress uses the file name as the link’s text. For this reason, it’s important to name the file what it is before uploading it to the Media Library. Additionally, doing so will help when conducting searches in the media library. (For files, it’s the ‘Title’ field in the Media Library that determines the link text.)
It’s extremely helpful when linking to files to also include the type of file that it is in the link text.
When linking a file (using the ‘File’ block), you have the option of adding a download button in the block settings. We do not want repetitive links on the page because of the confusion this can cause, so it is best practice to either use a button, or a text link, do not use both.
Just like with text links, you should maintain the same naming standard and use the file name with the file type, and not just the word, “Download”
If your file name has a date in it (and it’s important to the link), please be sure to use a proper date format in the name: 12-03-2021, 2021-12-03 for example. (File names do not allow forward slashes, but you can use the slashes in your file’s link text.)
You must be logged in to post a comment.