Audio description, caption, and transcript resources

• Overview
• Transcripts
  • Transcript examples
• Captions
  • Captioning examples
• Audio descriptions
  • Audio description examples
• Learn more
  • Success criteria

Overview

The following resources cover success criteria, best practices, and examples for audio descriptions, captions, and transcripts.

Transcripts

The following resources describe transcript basics.

• Transcripts: Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) document describing the basics of a transcript, including which media needs a transcript, how to create and present a transcript, and tips for making your transcript more useful.
• Transcripts on the Web: Includes information on best practices for creating a good transcript.

Transcript examples

• The Science of Compassion: Transcript for an episode of NPR's Hidden Brain.
• Khan Academy Introduction to Grammar video: One of many Khan Academy videos that use interactive transcripts. The interactive transcript is located in the Transcript tab below the image.

Captions

The following resources describe basics for closed captions.

• DCMP Captioning Key: A thorough resource from the Described and Captioned Media Program with information on how to present captions, including font, punctuation, line breaks, placement, and duration.
• CADET (Caption and Description Editing Tool): A free downloadable tool from the National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) at WGBH to help you import, edit and export caption files.
• Captions and Subtitles: WAI document on captions, including which media needs captions, how to create captions, and best practices for displaying captions.
• BBC Subtitle Guidelines: This BBC resource offers information on subtitling, including how to caption intonation and emotion, accents, and humor.

Captioning examples

• Video Captions: This closed captioned video from WAI explains the benefits of captions. An audio description track and a transcript are also provided for the video.
• Closed Captioning: More Ingenious Than You Know (video): This YouTube video explores the history of captions with manually created closed captions included.

Audio descriptions

The following resources describe some basics for audio descriptions.

• Audio Description of Visual Information: WAI document on audio description, including which media needs audio description, methods, and how to create audio descriptions.
• DCMP Description Key: A thorough resource from the Described and Captioned Media Program with information on what to describe and how to describe that content.
• DCMP Description Tip Sheet: A quick reference, this is a brief overview of the more thorough DCMP Description Key.
• Netflix Audio Description Style Guide: This style guide covers the content of descriptions, voice casting, and technical details like audio mix.
• Providing Spoken Descriptions of Visual Content: This short article from the University of Colorado Boulder extends audio description to spoken presentations, including an example for describing a slide.

Audio description examples

The following links are examples featuring audio descriptions.

• Frozen (trailer)
• Pip: An Animated Film
• The Interviewer
• Nosferatu (silent film)
• Tech Things: UITS student guide 2019
• Sculptures in Raleigh, NC
• Max Schmitt In a Single Scull (painting by Thomas Eakins)

You can also find helpful resources, as well as audio described movies, television and streaming shows, and DVDs at the Audio Description Project.

Learn more

The following resources will get you started with the basics for audio descriptions, captions, transcripts, and subtitles.

• Making Audio and Video Media Accessible: WAI resource on captions, subtitles, transcripts, and audio description, including why they are important, planning your media to include them, and which WCAG standards apply to different types of media.
• Captions, Transcripts, and Audio Descriptions: From WebAIM, this article describes captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions. It goes into detail on each subject, including examples.
• Add Text Transcripts for Video and Audio Elements: A short article from Deque University about transcripts and methods for providing them.
• Creating Accessible Videos: A University of Colorado Boulder resource with tips for pre-production, production, and post-production, including captioning, graphics, audio descriptions, transcripts and summaries, and accessible media players.
• Video Captions & Transcripts: An article from the University of Minnesota describing captions and transcripts. Explains what they are, who benefits from them, and how to add captions to YouTube videos.
• Accessible Technology – Videos: Article from the University of Washington describing captions, audio descriptions, live captions, and transcripts.
• About Audio Description: This short article from the University of California Berkeley includes tips for describing academic videos.
• Live Versus Pre-recorded Audio Description: Explains the differences between pre-recorded and live audio descriptions.

Success criteria

The following are the relevant Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to meet WCAG 2.0 AA standards for video and audio files.

• Audio-only must have a transcript while pre-recorded video-only must have an audio description or a text alternative that presents the information in the video: Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded): WCAG 2.1 SC 1.2.1
• Pre-recorded videos with audio must have the following:
  • Accurate closed captions: Captions (Prerecorded): WCAG 2.1 SC 1.2.2
  • Synchronized audio description: Audio Description (Prerecorded): WCAG 2.1 SC 1.2.5
  • Live video must have closed captions: Captions (Live): WCAG 2.1 SC 1.2.4
  Note:

  If the video has accurate closed captions, synchronized audio description, and a detailed transcript, it meets AAA standards.