Every website must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. By complying with the ADA, a website is accessible to all its users while also being protected from ADA claims and lawsuits.
Going over the ADA-accessible formats that a website can use for captions and transcripts while speaking with an ADA attorney who specializes in ADA claims/lawsuits will allow you to protect your website.
The ADA Accessible Formats For Captions/Transcripts
What Are Captions/Transcripts?
Captions are representations of text that are presented within a video. On top of that, captions also consist of text representations of other content within the video, such as certain sounds or key pieces of visual information.
Just as an example, if your website features videos with lots of people talking, then the captions for this video will include this dialogue, as well as the names of the people talking.
Transcripts are documents that contain the speech said within a video. Some transcripts also contain other related information, such as sound effects and anything that makes the content easier to understand.
A good example of a transcript is the video we mentioned in the first example. But, this time, the speech within the video is found in a text document that can be read, as opposed to being read while the video is watched.
Does Your Website Need Captions/Transcripts?
The answer to the question outlined above is “Yes.”
Your website needs captions/transcripts. And, if your website does not offer captions/transcripts for video and audio content that requires it, then your website cannot be considered ADA accessible.
If your website is not ADA accessible, then you can be hit with ADA-related claims and lawsuits. This isn’t necessarily very common, but it could happen, and in doing so, it could negatively affect your website.
What Are The ADA Accessible Formats For Captions/Transcripts?
The ADA-accessible formats for captions are as follows:
Scenarist Closed Captions – “SCCs,” for short – which you can use for broadcasts.
Closed Captions that exist as a text file and can be read by nearly any player.
Web Video Text Tracks – “WebVTTs,” for short – which can be read by any HTML5 player.
Outside of the above, if you have an “SRT” file, then those will, in nearly every instance, be more than sufficient.
The ADA-accessible formats for transcripts are as follows:
An HTML document that contains the transcript of a particular video or audio file.
A “TXT” or “DOC” file that contains the transcript of a particular video or audio file.
Outside of the above, you can offer a downloadable version of a transcript.
Right within this transcript, you can add headings to delineate certain portions of the content while also adding links that lead to related information.
Every single one of the above will make your transcript more ADA-accessible than it would normally be without those features.
Speak With A New York ADA Web Accessibility Lawyer Today
If you are facing an ADA web accessibility claim or lawsuit, then the best thing you can do is obtain legal assistance. Speak with a New York ADA web accessibility lawyer at The Samuel Law Firm today, and we will help you.
