Video Accessibility

Closed-Captioning

All media resources used in University programs and activities—whether they are instructional, informational, marketing, or promotional—must be accessible.  All media resources shared on Wesleyan websites must have closed-captioning for videos and, soon, audio descriptions. Audio resources must be transcribed. Please visit this link for more information on the University Video Closed-Captioning Policy.

Definitions

  • Captioning is synchronized text that displays on the screen during a video. Videos must be captioned so that individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing can understand the information contained in sounds and dialogue. 
  • Captions can be either open or closed.  Wesleyan’s standard is closed captions. Open captions are always visible and cannot be turned off, which may be a distraction for some individuals.  Closed captions provide users with the ability to turn them on and off.
  • Audio description is comments interspersed between dialogue that describes non-verbal actions and events.

Recommendations

  • Zoom web conferencing with full audio, video and sharing capabilities, is compliant (with some exceptions) with federal standards and requirements. Zoom provides options for live and recorded transcripts and captioning.
  • YouTube and other video platforms that have known accessible video players and captions are recommended.