Nowadays, videos are the preferred format to share knowledge globally, and especially in the United States. Compared to stand-alone photos or texts, online videos generate higher engagement and shares on social media platforms. Therefore, creating accessible video content has become increasingly important in 2024.
Optimizing your video content by making it more reachable. This will also improve your search engine optimization efforts. Moreover, it will help you in connecting better with a wider audience.
First-of-all, a better user engagement starts with a good UI/UX design. A 360-degree IT firm can empower you in achieving this. User experience leads to engagement, sales, fulfillment, and advocacy.
Using Software for producing accessible Video Content
In the ever-changing digital landscape, it can be hard to predict what the next big things will be. From digital marketing to local SEO, there can be many elements. Enter the chatbots to make things way spicier.
For video content to be accessible, the information conveyed must be easily interpreted by all kinds of viewers. For example, together with people with disabilities, as required by The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). A video is truly accessible when it contains captions, a transcript, an audio transcription, or a combination of these.
The ultimate test is to check if it is compatible with an accessible video player. This helps to see if it carries all the markers of an accessible video. Depending on the video’s type and purpose, you can make a video accessible mainly through text transcripts and (or) captions.
You can make accessible video content through the use of software in the following ways.
Let’s elaborate on these use cases briefly.
Generating Video Transcriptions
Transcripts are shared on the same webpage as the video. They are often used for readers with a hearing impairment. Likewise, transcriptions also assist in achieving SEO for businesses.
A transcript is a complete, written record of the monologue, dialogue, and sound effects from the video. They are most valuable when your content is mainly informational. Such as in podcasts, essays, interviews, and speeches.
Some of the best transcription software today includes InqScribe, OTranscribe, FTW Transcriber, and Express Scribe. If you prefer typing less, there are several voice-recognition transcribing tools, such as Designer and Trint. Both pick up words automatically, and the built-in tools convert them into transcripts for you. Voice-recognition transcription is a good fit for longer transcripts and books.
You can consider hiring freelancers through online services to transcribe your audio files or videos. For instance, Scribie, Upwork, People Per Hour, etc. However, consider the transcriptionist’s skills and experience carefully to create accurate results, including their asking price.
Including Video Captions
Using captions as texts throughout the video is one of the main ways for creating accessible video content amid 2024. This is helpful especially for those people with hearing difficulties. Furthermore, this also comes in handy for the audience having a different first language.
Captions are pieces of text that match the spoken words and sound effects within the video. Therefore, they must accurately capture the dialogue timing. For example, shorter videos with more actions or movements require more captions. Such as ads, instructional videos, movies, and music videos.
While not technically software, YouTube remains one of the most popular, easy, and convenient ways to generate captions. The video-hosting service automatically generates captions for some videos. Similarly, YouTube also allows you to upload your already-available transcript onto the site.
When you upload a video, you can edit the automatic captions, but they are often of lower quality. In case you desire to transform them into higher-quality captions, including editing for accuracy and better timing. You can consider actual software for caption servicing.
Chances are your video may not require an upload into YouTube. Then you can consider the free Captioning and Description Editing Tool (CADET). This tool is offered by the National Center on Accessible Media (NCAM).
For other video captioning services that let you manually do it yourself, try the free Amara software to add captions. It also enables you in translating them into other languages. Kapwing and Closed Caption Creator are similar alternatives.
If you have less time on your hands, especially with lengthy videos, you may wish to hire a caption writer. Dotsub is an excellent service, as it adds captions for you, and it has a quick turnaround. Similar alternatives include Automatic Sync Technologies, 3PlayMedia, and Cielo 24.
Improving Video Design/Quality
Your video’s design plays a significant role in content accessibility. Because the wrong design decisions can easily disregard viewers with specific disabilities. Popular industry software for video editing and design includes Adobe Premiere, AVS video editor, and iMovie.
Furthermore, there can be cases where you need to incorporate graphics into your video. Remember, the content accessibility is much higher if you ensure your texts meet the color contrast standards. You can use the Color Contrast Analyzer software to check for the contrast of images. Alternatively, for hexadecimal color codes, try the WebAIM contrast checker also.
With all software and platforms available, you are spoiled for choice when it comes to forming accessible video content. Figure out which method or platform works best with your style, branding, storytelling, and vlogging. It’s best to try different options and compare them. So, you can select one that you can use for your projects moving forward.
Conclusion
Do you want to boost the accessibility of your visual content for users? Connect with Techliance to take the textual and visual presentation to the next level. It is time to make your website and videos stand out.
