Videos and other multimedia are popular means to convey information on a website or to supplement the lengthy explanatory text. When creating video or multimedia products for a website, follow the USC Video Guidelines. Videos embedded on a web page must be ADA-compliant, with captions enabled in the player. Also, a video transcript must be available on the web page or video platform. Visit USC Digital Accessibility for information and instructions on creating videos that are ADA-compliant.
Guidelines
Captioning
All videos posted to USC websites and USC social media channels must include captions for the hearing impaired to be ADA compliant and accessible. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok, automatically provide captions via artificial intelligence, however, YouTube captioning can take from a few hours up to a day to be completed. As a result, you cannot instantly post your video to the public. Also, since YouTube captions are not 100% accurate, you’ll want to review and possibly edit them prior to posting your video.
Video
- Options for Video Captions:
1. Use the autogenerate function during upload (must click “Autogenerate” or already have “Autogenerate captions for future uploads” checked), with the option to edit after.
2. Upload SRT file (pay attention to naming requirements)
3. Manually write and input. - Facebook Stories
Currently, Facebook Stories does not work with screen readers. Video posts with audio should have text added for context.
- Newsfeed Posts
Videos must have captions burned into the file before being uploaded. - Instagram Stories
Video posts with audio should have text added for context since this does not work with screen readers. - IGTV
Files must be burned with captions before uploading even if IGTV can autogenerate.
- Options for Video Captions:
1. Drop a YouTube video link on Twitter after it has been captioned on YouTube.
2. Alternatively, you can add closed caption SRT files to videos in Twitter Media Studio if you have access, or visit Twitter Ads if you do not.
3. You can also publish a video with captions burned in if you already have it for other social media platforms.
- To learn more about how to upload videos with SRT files, visit LinkedIn.
- If you already have a video with captions burned for other social media platforms, this can also be published in a post.
YouTube
- YouTube will automatically generate captions and transcripts.
Note: Captions have limited reliability with 85% to 90% accuracy. Please review and edit them once they are complete.
Accessibility
Captions
Provide content for people with hearing impairments and are used by people who process written information better than audio.
- Closed Captions can be turned on and off and are designed to supplement dialogue with other relevant parts of the soundtrack. Such as describing background noises, phones ringing and other audio cues that need describing. This requires a sidecar file (a separate file uploaded to play along with a video.)
- Open Captions are burned into the video file as text graphics and cannot be turned off.
Subtitles
This provides a text alternative for the dialogue transcribed into a language. Standard subtitles assume the viewer can hear the audio. For example, a phone ringing does not need to be included.
Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SCHH)
Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (SCHH) are written for viewers who may not be able to hear the audio. SDHH contains information about background sounds and speaker changes, along with a translation of the script.
