As organizations rely more heavily on video for teaching, communication, and engagement, accessibility has become a critical part of delivering equitable digital experiences. But while many teams understand the importance of accessibility, video accessibility remains one of the most complex, and often misunderstood, areas of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
This post explores what WCAG actually requires for video content accessibility, why it matters, and how Mediasite supports organizations on this journey. Although the Mediasite platform itself is designed with accessibility at its core, this article focuses primarily on the accessibility of the video content you create and share.
Platform Accessibility vs. Video Content Accessibility
Before diving into WCAG, it’s important to distinguish two complementary but different concepts:
Platform Accessibility (Mediasite Video Platform)
Mediasite is built to be WCAG-conformant and accessible by design. This includes features such as:
- Keyboard-operable controls and shortcuts
- Screen reader compatibility
- Configurable font and caption styles (including OpenDyslexic)
- Light, dark, and high-contrast themes
- Accessible language and UI patterns
These ensure that the Mediasite platform itself is usable for all viewers, creators, and administrators.
Video Content Accessibility
WCAG requirements apply to the platform, and to the videos organizations record, upload, and publish. This includes aspects such as captions, audio descriptions, transcripts, metadata, and safeguards around flashing or visual content.
Most of what follows focuses on this second category: How to make your videos WCAG-conformant and accessible to every viewer.
Why Video Accessibility Matters
Steve Krug once said:
“How many opportunities do we have to dramatically improve people’s lives just by doing our job a little better?”
This is especially true for video. Video is fast, information-dense, and multimodal, which is great for engagement but full of barriers if accessibility isn’t addressed.
WCAG’s video requirements support people with:
- Visual disabilities (requiring audio descriptions or text alternatives)
- Auditory disabilities (requiring captions and transcripts)
- Deaf-blindness (requiring text compatible with Braille displays)
- Mobility limitations (requiring accessible playback controls)
- Cognitive or learning disabilities (benefiting from captions and searchable text)
- Photosensitive epilepsy (requiring limits on flashing content)
Video accessibility isn’t optional. It’s foundational to equitable participation.
How Global Accessibility Laws Rely on WCAG
While countries have their own accessibility laws, nearly all of them rely on WCAG A, AA, or AAA as the benchmark for compliance.
Examples include:
- United States: ADA, Section 504, Section 508, Title II
- European Union: EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act
- Canada: AODA
- United Kingdom: Equality Act 2010
- Japan: JIS X 8341-3
Because of this alignment, WCAG effectively sets the global standard for video accessibility.
WCAG Requirements for Prerecorded Video
WCAG has been updated over time, with 2.0, 2.1, and the latest version, 2.2. Luckily for us, the requirements for accessible video have not been changed with each version. Here’s what WCAG expects for prerecorded/on-demand video:
Level A (baseline)
- Captions for all spoken audio
Level AA (legally required in most regions)
- Audio description for essential visual information not spoken aloud
Level AAA (aspirational, rarely required)
- Sign language interpretation
- Extended audio descriptions
- A full media alternative (text-based equivalent)
Note: WCAG has separate, less stringent rules for live video. Some elements, such as audio description tracks or media alternative text are difficult and/or impractical to produce for live video, resulting in differing requirements.
Making Video Accessible in Mediasite
Mediasite supports WCAG-aligned content accessibility through:
- Accurate captions (automated or human-edited)
- Transcripts that can be downloaded, searched, or converted into Braille
- Audio description track support
- OCR-powered search for text shown in the video
- Multilingual caption and transcript options
- Customizable caption appearance
- Searchable metadata to support cognitive accessibility
Platform accessibility makes the application usable; content accessibility makes the video itself usable.
Interpreting WCAG Through a Practical Scoring Lens
To simplify WCAG’s requirements for real-world use, Mediasite conceptualizes video accessibility as five levels of conformance:
This structure helps organizations understand exactly where their content stands; what’s compliant, what’s missing, and what’s possible.
Accessibility Is the Foundation of Great Video
When video is accessible, it becomes more inclusive, more discoverable, and more effective for everyone.
WCAG gives us the standards.
Frameworks like Mediasite give us the tools.
But accessibility itself is a mindset; a commitment to designing and delivering content that welcomes every viewer.
If you create video, accessibility isn’t just a requirement.
It’s an opportunity to elevate the impact of everything you publish.
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