Accessible video is about more than meeting compliance requirements. It creates better learning experiences for everyone. Jayne Davids explores how thoughtful design, accurate captions, clear visuals and meaningful testing can remove barriers, build trust and help L&D teams create content that truly empowers people to learn and succeed.
What if someone in your organisation cannot hear the audio track, see the visuals clearly or read the words on screen of your content? For some people, these may seem like minor inconveniences. For others, they are everyday barriers to learning.
When we build inclusive choices into the process, the result is more usable
I believe accessibility should be part of the first conversation about a video, not added as an afterthought once production is complete. When we build inclusive choices into the process, the result is more usable, clearer, and better for everyone.
Start with inclusion
Inclusive design means creating for the widest possible audience from the beginning. In practice, this involves asking who could be excluded by the format, visuals, language or delivery, then making deliberate choices to remove those barriers.
For learning professionals, three foundations make an immediate difference:
- Accurate closed captions
Captions open up spoken content to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, as well as anyone watching without sound - A useful transcript
This gives learners another way to access and review the content – and also useful for quoting, getting correct spelling, and useful in AI processing - A strong colour contrast
Clear contrast between text and its background makes information easier to read, particularly for people with low vision
Make accessibility intentional
Automated tools can accelerate production, but they should not replace human judgement. Auto-generated captions, for example, are a starting point rather than a finished product. Names, specialist terminology and punctuation can all be misrepresented, while poor timing can make otherwise accurate captions difficult to follow.
Review captions for accuracy and synchronisation. When writing a script, describe essential actions and visual information rather than assuming every learner can see what is happening on screen. Choose an easy-to-read typeface, use sufficient text size and avoid placing words over busy imagery. These decisions require time and effort, but they are part of creating effective learning, not additional decoration.
Test the experience, not just the file
A video can meet a technical checklist and still be difficult to use. I invite you to test the experience, not just the file. Try encountering your next video in several different ways and notice where meaning is lost:
- Watch the video without sound. Do the captions communicate the full meaning?
- Listen without looking at the screen. Is important visual information described?
- Review the transcript on its own. Is it clear, accurate and logically structured?
- Check text against its background. Is it easy to read at a glance?
- Does the pace gives learners enough time to process both visuals and captions?
These simple checks expose barriers before they reach the audience. Where possible, include people with different access needs in the review process; direct experience will reveal issues that a checklist may miss.
Accessibility strengthens learning and trust
The case for accessible learning is not limited to compliance, although equal access matters. It is also about reach, engagement and credibility.
Captions benefit learners in noisy environments, people working in a second language and anyone who prefers to read while, or instead of, listening. Transcripts help with revision and enable learners to locate specific information quickly. Clear typography and contrast reduce unnecessary cognitive effort. In each case, a feature introduced to remove a particular barrier improves the experience for a much wider audience.
Accessible content also signals care. When learners can see that their needs have been considered, an organisation builds respect and trust. The learning team becomes known not simply for producing content, but for producing content that people can rely on and use.
A practical prompt: IGNITE
This article builds on a live presentation I shared as part of the Ignite session series at Training Journal’s 60th birthday conference. The format inspired the IGNITE framework, a useful prompt for learning teams planning their next video:
I — Inclusive: design for a wide range of people from the start
G — Gain: recognise the engagement, reach and credibility that accessibility can create
N — Need: treat equal access as both a requirement and the right thing to do
I — Intentional: make deliberate choices about captions, scripts, type and colour
T — Test: experience the content in different ways before publishing it
E — Empower: remove barriers so that more people can learn independently
Make the next video better
Accessibility does not require every learning team to become an expert overnight. It starts with curiosity, planning and a willingness to test assumptions. The next time you commission or create a video, ask who might struggle to access it and what could be changed before production begins.
My hope is that this sparks a little curiosity and a commitment to make your next video more inclusive. Accurate captions, a descriptive transcript, clear colour contrast and meaningful testing may seem like small decisions, but together they can turn a barrier into an invitation to learn. When we design accessibility in from the start, video does more than deliver information: it empowers people.
Jayne Davids is a Freelance Trainer & Video Editor at Raiveon
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