Why accessible video matters

One of the more positive current trends in branded video is accessibility. Beyond the worthy principle of making video content inclusive, there are a number of other reasons why adding captions and subtitles is worth doing:

1. Boost SEO
SEO is still hugely important for many organisations, and by adding closed captions to your videos, you’re giving Google the information it needs to understand your video and thereby create better rankings. One of our Financial Services clients, Wesleyan, included captions in a recent video campaign and enjoyed great SEO results.

 2. Your videos can be watched anywhere, by anyone
A large proportion of video content is watched via social media platforms and in news feeds. With auto-play and no sound, adding captions is a no-brainer for improving your social media reach.

There’s also a chance that viewers are watching your videos at a noisy event or on their smartphones in public places. Captions give people the opportunity to watch and engage with your video content anytime, anywhere.

3. It’s good for business
There are business benefits. AbilityNet, the UK charity that helps disabled people make the most of the benefits of technology, suggests that accessibility should be a key priority for content producers  - there are 12 million disabled people in the UK with a spending power of £120 billion. It makes business sense to ensure your content is accessible to the widest audience possible; it’s also required under the Disability Equality Act (2010)

4. It’s easy
The technology and processes involved with making video content accessible are easier to use and more widely available than ever. Whereas before it involved the laborious task of transcribing and typing up, impressive AI technology such as Watson and CaptionHub now remove this stress and save time by converting audio into text and — in the case of CaptionHub — add subtitles to videos for you. There are even options to translate the subtitles into more languages, creating further opportunities for a larger audience to access your videos.

One of the greatest strengths of online video is its flexibility and versatility. Subtitles and captions play a large part in that. So, if you are planning your next video campaign, make accessibility a key consideration and include it in your agency brief.

Sam Lewis
Production Director