Increasing Video Accessibility

Video-based content has gained tremendous popularity over the last few years, and Facebook, the undisputed leader of social networks, gives right of way to video posts over static text or images. So how can we increase the accessibility of these videos?

Subtitles are a leading tool for making a video, whether prerecorded or live, accessible to disabled audiences.

Video accessibility refers to a number of areas:

  • Subtitles for narration and speech
  • Notations to indicate background noise, including speaker identification, off-screen voices, screen placement and music and sound effects that are essential for understanding the video; for example, “Peals of laughter from audience”
  • Audio inserts in visuals-only scenes to provide information that is essential for understanding the video; for example, “She stares at the child. He casts his eyes downwards, turns and runs away;” or the name of a store or time on a clock
  • Synchronizing the timing of the audio and/or subtitles with the original script.

While there are some free tools for adding subtitles to videos, they are unpredictable and can cause any number of glitches. If you want to target as wide an audience as possible and project professionalism and competence, you should avoid using an automated subtitling tool which could cause embarrassing errors such as missing text, translation errors and unsynchronized timing. Free tools can’t provide the same level of reliability and expertise as a skilled and experienced professional from a company specializing in subtitles.

As a leader in the Israeli subtitling industry, we produce subtitles in any language for video editors, producers, corporate and private clients and government entities. Our projects range from TV series and independent films to promotional and instructional videos. Videos are a growing trend and are literally popping up everywhere. More advertisers, including government and agencies, are increasingly choosing videos to advertise their products and services in order to offer potential audiences a more compelling and versatile viewer experience.

Promotional and instructional films as well as advertising campaigns take advantage of the catchy, multi-dimensional nature of audio-video tools to convey their messages to their target audiences so that they can stand out in an already saturated media environment.

Accessibility Toolbar