Despite living in an increasingly digital world, many people are unaware of the WCAG guidelines that exist to ensure people who face digital access barriers are not excluded from online life. WCAG standards apply to anyone involved in building and maintaining a website and those who produce written, video, and audio content.
In this article, we’ll give you a thorough overview of WCAG, the principles of WCAG compliance, and why it’s essential that the audio and video content you produce is WCAG compliant.
Before we move on to the specifics of WCAG compliance and how it affects your processes as a media editor, let’s start by answering a few of the most common WCAG-related questions:
Now that we’ve established exactly what WCAG is and the purpose the guidelines serve, let’s take a more in-depth look at how they work.
WCAG standards and updates are published by the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C), which was founded in 1994 to develop a common set of principles for the benefit of all internet users. Several member organizations and industry leaders contribute to W3C documents, including Tim Berners-Lee, the computer scientist credited with the invention of the world wide web.
When the standards were first developed, internet use was in its infancy. However, as the global number of internet users rose and new web technologies emerged, frequent updates and revisions were made to WCAG, meaning there have been several iterations of the standards over the years. The most up-to-date version is WCAG 2.2, which was published in 2020. WCAG 3.0 is currently in the draft stages, although it is not expected to be finalized or become the new W3C standard for a few more years.
WCAG guidelines provide three levels of compliance:
Simply put, making your content accessible to everyone is the right thing to do. The internet was designed to be used by everyone, and excluding people when there’s no need to do so is bad form.
“The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone, regardless of disability, is an essential aspect…The Web is fundamentally designed to work for all people, whatever their hardware, software, language, location, or ability.”
— Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the world wide web.
However, accessibility is also the logical thing to do, because as many as one in every five people has a disability that could make accessing your content difficult. That equates to a significant proportion of your global target audience. For example:
Depending on the sector you operate in and your geographical location, WCAG compliance may also be a legal requirement. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, WCAG AA compliance is expected on public sector and customer-facing websites. Similar legislation exists in other locations, including:
Not to mention, there are also some SEO benefits because many of the recommended best practices for improved accessibility are considered by Google algorithms. Websites featuring content that follows WCAG are becoming increasingly favored as trusted sources on search queries.
“There’s a considerable overlap between features that enhance accessibility and SEO performance. By making your web pages accessible to everyone, you’re also boosting your chances of being found in search.”
— Clair Brotherton, Founder of A Clear, Bright Web
WCAG requires website owners and online content creators to make reasonable adjustments so that their media is more inclusive. The four principles of WCAG compliance set clear expectations for how and why those adjustments need to be made. They determine that content should be:
Designers, developers, programmers, and content creators should all have a thorough understanding of digital access barriers and how to avoid them. The entire list of WCAG standards is incredibly comprehensive, and not all apply to audio and video content. However, as videos are rarely presented as a stand-alone offering without accompanying text or descriptions on a webpage, it’s essential you have a firm grasp of the additional requirements so you can fully optimize your content for accessibility.
Here is a list of some of the most essential criteria:
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