This guide covers what accessible video production actually involves, what WCAG 2.1 AA requires for video content, and how to specify accessible delivery requirements in a production brief or RFP so that the video you receive is genuinely accessible.
Why Accessible Video Matters for Organizations
For government and public sector organizations in Canada, accessible video is a legal obligation under the Accessible Canada Act at the federal level and under provincial accessibility legislation. For any organization publishing video on a public website, accessible video also improves search engine indexing and extends the reach of the content to audiences who consume video without sound.
What WCAG 2.1 AA Requires for Video
Captions for Pre-Recorded Audio Content
All pre-recorded video that contains audio must have captions. Captions at WCAG AA level must be accurate, synchronized with the audio, complete, and properly positioned.
Auto-generated captions from YouTube, Vimeo, or transcription software do not meet WCAG AA requirements without human review and correction.
Audio Description for Pre-Recorded Video
Audio description is required where the visual content of the video conveys information that a viewer who cannot see the video would not otherwise receive.
For many corporate and institutional video productions where the narration already describes the visuals, audio description is not required or is minimal.
No Autoplay with Audio
Video or audio that plays automatically when a page loads must not play for more than three seconds, or a mechanism must be available to pause or stop it. Do not autoplay video with sound.
Closed Captions Versus Open Captions
Closed captions can be turned on or off by the viewer. Open captions are burned directly into the video image and cannot be turned off. For most web publishing contexts, closed captions are preferable. For social media contexts where caption file support varies, open captions are often necessary.
Specifying Accessible Delivery in a Brief or RFP
For closed captions: The production must include closed captions in SRT format, produced by a human editor to WCAG 2.1 AA accuracy standards. Auto-generated captions that have not been reviewed and corrected by a human editor are not acceptable.
For transcripts: The production must include a full text transcript of all spoken content, delivered as an accessible PDF and a plain text document.
For audio description: The production must include an audio-described version of the video where visual content conveys information not available in the audio.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are auto-generated captions acceptable for WCAG compliance?
No. Auto-generated captions do not meet WCAG 2.1 AA accuracy requirements without human review and correction.
Does every video require audio description?
No. Audio description is required only where the video conveys information through visual content that is not described in the spoken content.
What caption format should we specify in our RFP?
SRT is the most widely supported caption format and is a safe default for most web publishing contexts.
