Inclusivity and accessibility in video content

The foundation of inclusive videos

The digital age demands that video content be accessible to everyone, which includes ensuring that people with disabilities can fully engage with online media. There’s also a legal dimension: many regions have laws that stipulate that digital content must be accessible to all users.

Laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ensure state and local government institutions comply with guidelines, and create standards for everyone. Ethically, creating content that excludes certain groups can reflect poorly on a brand and diminish its impact. It’s also bad business: you’re excluding a demographic who can likely benefit from your product or service.

Practical steps to enhance accessibility

Incorporate captions and subtitles for deaf and hearing impaired people

Captions are essential not only for individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired but also enhance comprehension for all viewers, especially in environments where listening to audio isn’t possible. Automatic captioning in video tools like YouTube, Animoto, etc., make videos more accessible, giving you the opportunity to reach a broader audience and aid in creating a more inclusive society.

Utilize descriptive audio for blind and visually impaired people

Descriptive audio provides a verbal description of visual elements happening on screen, helping those who are blind or have low vision to follow along with the video. Use descriptive audio in your videos to describe textural details of products, visual landscapes and more, making your content more accessible to all audiences.

Ensure diverse and representative content

Diversity in video content isn’t just about featuring people of different backgrounds, it’s also about presenting a variety of perspectives and experiences that resonate with a wider audience. Depending on your type of business, you can feature content that celebrates the diversity of your team, your community or even your customers.

Making a small investment in accessibility yields big results with SEO

Accessible videos often create better SEO outcomes because they tend to have higher engagement rates and meet the criteria around inclusion that search engines are increasingly favoring.

According to the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, videos with captions and transcripts provide more text for search engines to index, improving search visibility. Additionally, accessible videos enhance user experience, reducing bounce rates and increasing viewing times, both of which are positive ranking factors.

The broader impact of inclusivity in video content

Embracing the principles of diversity and inclusion in video content is not just beneficial—it's essential.

It's clear from Animoto's blog on utilizing AI for video creation that there's an opportunity to expand on technological advancements, by ensuring video content is inclusive and accessible. In adhering to best practices, business owners and content creators can significantly enhance the reach and impact of their work. It’s good for people, and it’s good for business.