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Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

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The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) help your business adhere to digital accessibility standards and regulations. The Blue Billywig Video Player is WCAG compliant.

Create video content that complies with the WCAG guidelines by adding the following features:

1.0 | Audio description

Add a separate audio track containing an audio description to provide audiovisual assistance for viewers with visual impairments.

In the Media Library, navigate to “Media clips”
Open the relevant media clip
Browse to the “Languages and accessibility” tab

Upload your audio description as an audio track (allowed formats: MP3, WAV, AAC, OGG, FLAC, M4A, WMA).
When uploading is complete, select the audio description in the dropdown menu and click “Save”

Viewers will be able to select the audio description in the control bar. To show or hide the audio description button:

Navigate to Playouts
Open the relevant playout
Browse to the “Accessibility” tab
Under “Buttons”, toggle the “Audio description button” setting

2.0 | Subtitles or closed captions

Subtitles and closed captions both accompany video as text. Subtitles provide the viewer with the audio in text (often in other languages), whereas closed captions are intended for viewers who cannot hear the audio at all. Closed captions also include descriptions of sounds in the video, such as a loud bang or when someone speaks in a whisper.

Subtitles and closed captions can both be added in the same way:

In the Media Library, navigate to “Media clips”
Open the relevant media clip
Browse to the “Languages and accessibility” tab
Upload your subtitles as an .srt (SubRip) or .ttxt (Timed Text) file

When uploading is complete, select the accompanying language and click “Save”

Viewers will be able to select the subtitles or closed captions in the control bar. To show or hide the subtitle button:

Navigate to Playouts
Open the relevant playout
Browse to the “Accessibility” tab
Under “Buttons”, toggle the “Subtitle toggle button” setting

Note:

You can set a default subtitle and audio track language per playout. Learn more about setting a default language.

3.0 | Text alternative

The WCAG requires non-text content on your website to be accessible to screen readers (e.g. Microsoft Narrator, VoiceOver or ChromeVox). Text alternatives are read out loud by screen readers to assist people with visual impairments.

Follow these steps to select the source of the text alternative for your media clips or projects:

Navigate to Playouts
Open the relevant playout
Browse to the “Accessibility” tab
Scroll down to “WCAG text alternative source” under “Miscellaneous”

Select a source for a text alternative from the dropdown menu. The default options are “Title” and “Description”
Navigate to Media Clips or Projects
Open the relevant item that requires a text alternative
Fill or edit the metadata field that is selected as a text alternative to ensure it is suitable for viewers using a screen reader

Learn more about adding custom fields</a >

Viewers using a screen reader will now be able to hear the selected metadata of the embedded content when the HTML element of the player is highlighted.

4.0 | Transcript

Transcripts use .srt (SubRip) or .ttxt (Timed Text) files to provide a written rendering of spoken phrases and a textual description of sounds. Instead of displaying each phrase in the player (as with subtitles), transcripts display the entire text in a separate element on the webpage. As sounds and phrases occur in the video, the accompanying text is highlighted in the transcript. Viewers can also select specific phrases in the interactive transcript to immediately jump to that part of the video.

To enable transcript display:

Navigate to Playouts
Open the relevant playout
Browse to the “Accessibility” tab
Under “Buttons”, toggle the “Transcript button” setting

Additionally, you can display the full transcript below the player (instead of in a sidebar) by enabling the “Full transcript below player” option under “Miscellaneous” in the Accessibility tab. Note: this does not work when the player is placed in an iframe.

5.0 | Sign language

Allow viewers to select a sign language interpretation track. To show or hide the sign language button:

Navigate to Playouts
Open the relevant playout
Browse to the “Accessibility” tab
Under “Buttons”, toggle the “Sign language button” setting

6.0 | Adaptable playback rate

Viewers can adjust the playback speed of video and audio content through the settings menu in the player. This feature is available by default for all non-live content.

7.0 | Keyboard controllable player

Allow viewers to control all functionalities within the player by using a keyboard. This feature is enabled by default. To disable this feature:

Navigate to Playouts
Open the relevant playout
Browse to the “Accessibility” tab
Scroll down to “Keyboard” and enable “Disable keyboard controls”

Learn more about keyboard accessibility

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