Video and Audio
Making multimedia accessible isn’t just good practice—it’s good for everyone. Captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions help people with disabilities and improve the experience for all users. Use the resources on this page to learn how to make your video and audio content accessible.
Who is responsible?
Anyone who creates new video or audio content or uses existing content for instruction, communication, marketing, promotion, or other academic or business purposes is responsible for ensuring that the content is accessible.
What standards do you need to meet?
All video and audio recordings used for University business, whether hosted on campus or by a vendor, must comply with WCAG 2.1 AA standards.
Prerecorded video must include accurate, complete and synchronized captions, and audio-only content must include transcripts. Live content should include real-time captions when feasible, and prerecorded synchronized media must include audio description when visual information is not otherwise conveyed through audio.
A plain-text contact method must be provided for individuals with disabilities who experience access barriers. These guidelines are referenced in WMU’s Web Accessibility Policy and in the ADA Title II federal regulations.
What to do? (Checklist)
Use the following best practices to help ensure your videos and audio recordings are accessible to all users.
Note: Video in Elearning and Mediasite will automatically be captioned.
- Before posting: Confirm captions are complete and accurate (names, technical terms and punctuation). Provide a transcript for audio-only content.
- Request accurate captions: You can request captions through the WMU Captioning and Transcription Services.
- Audio descriptions for visuals: For prerecorded videos, provide audio description (or an equivalent text alternative) when essential on-screen information is not spoken aloud. Include on-screen text, charts, actions and speaker changes as needed.
- Quality: Auto-captions alone are not always sufficient. Review and correct for accuracy, speaker labels and meaningful sound effects.
- Live events: The event host enables real-time captioning. After the event, post the recording with a corrected caption file.
- Third-party and vendor media: The person or unit that procures or embeds the media must obtain compliant captions and transcripts from the vendor before posting.
- Student or external submissions used officially: The unit publishing the content is responsible for adding captions and, when applicable, a transcript before posting.
What tools are available?
WMU Captioning and Transcription Services
Western Michigan University is committed to providing accurate, accessible captions and transcripts at no cost to faculty and staff, ensuring equitable access in alignment with the ADA and WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
Webex
Webex is Western’s supported platform for video conferencing, live captions and meeting transcripts, and it is the recommended system for official classes, meetings and events.
Webex resources
- Show or hide closed captions during a Webex meeting or webinar
- Turn on closed captions for Webex calls
- Webex’s accessibility features for meetings and webinars
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a WMU-supported platform for meetings, chat and collaboration, offering built-in live captions and meeting transcripts.