How to make video and audio accessible

Audio in video and audio-only content

Make audio in video or audio-only content, like podcasts, accessible so more people can understand them.

There are two types of audio: informative audio and background audio.

Informative audio

Informative audio is sound that adds information and includes:

  • speech
  • sounds important for understanding, like laughter, sounds happening off-screen or music relevant to the content topic

Background audio

Background audio is sound that does not add information. 

Make sure background audio:

  • doesn't make it difficult to hear and understand the informative audio.
  • is at least 20 decibels (about four times) quieter than informative audio - you may need to remove it if it's not.

This helps everyone listening to the audio, especially people who find it difficult to understand speech or distinguish between sounds in your video.

Do not include background audio in video captions or transcripts for audio-only content.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

This guidance may address the following WCAG guidelines: