How to make video and audio accessible

Audio in video and audio-only content

Make sure important audio in videos or audio-only content is easy for everyone to hear and understand.

Important audio in videos or audio-only content (like podcasts) must be is easy for everyone to hear and understand.

This is especially important for people who find it difficult to follow speech or distinguish sounds.

There are two types of audio: informative and background.

Informative audio carries important information, including:

speech or dialogue
sounds needed for understanding, like laughter or reactions, off-screen sounds or music relevant to the content

Background audio does not add information, such as city sounds or background music.

Background audio:

must not make it difficult to hear or understand informative audio
should be at least 20 decibels quieter than the informative audio (about four times quieter)
should be removed if it interferes with understanding

Do not include background audio in captions or transcripts.

If media with audio has already been published but is not accessible:

provide a transcript of all important information on the same page or link to a separate transcript.
add a short summary of key points if a full transcript is not possible.
allow users to ask for the content in another accessible format if needed.
update the content later to a fully accessible version if possible.

This applies only to important information. Background sounds or music do not need to be included.