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How to Make Your Videos ADA Compliant and Provide Equal Access for Potential Prospects with Jamie Layne




Making Your Videos ADA Compliant 101 

At StoryCrews, we take advantage of the two most powerful marketing tools in the books, storytelling, and video. By integrating storytelling with video, potential prospects can place themselves in your client’s shoes and get to know you and your services. 

However, one of the most important aspects for videos and websites is remaining ADA compliant. It’s important for ALL businesses to stay in the scope of equal access for potential prospects. Showcasing your videos and websites as ADA compliant not only boosts your company’s reputation but attracts a wider audience. ADA compliance increases user experience and lifetime value. 

Unfortunately, the height of ADA lawsuits has increased over the past few years due to the loose legal guidelines. The DOJ has kept ADA compliance in a grey area for business websites and mobile apps. As the legality continues to cause problems in the business field we recently invited an ADA compliant expert onto the Garlic Marketing Show, to eliminate the grey area. Jamie Layne, CEO, and Founder of MarTEKnology shared how to make your website and videos ADA compliant to avoid falling into an unnecessary lawsuit and increase your company’s value for potential prospects. 


The Top 2 Tips for Video and ADA Compliance 

The biggest concern is that certain industries (doctor’s offices, retailers, and restaurants) hope they can pay people off if an ADA lawsuit comes into play. Unfortunately, paying them off doesn’t make the issue disappear or fix the accessibility problem. You’re not actually helping people with disabilities access your website. Although, you may not get hit with the same lawsuit in the future you’re still at risk and excluding a certain audience. On top of that, you still remain at risk for other/additional lawsuits as the laws change. Again, authenticWEB wants to take the opportunity to alleviate the grey area of ADA compliance and break it down for other entrepreneurs and business owners. 


Related: Judge Holds Winn-Dixie Supermarkets Website Violates the ADA  


But, the most important mindset to remember is to not be fearful of ADA compliance. Turn away from the fearful aspect of a lawsuit, and focus on the huge opportunity businesses have by becoming ADA compliant. As a business owner, you put blood, sweat, tears, and money into your company, why not make it accessible for everyone? 


Luckily for video compliance, there are only 2 specific guidelines to follow: 


  • Closed Captioning 

Closed captioning NEEDS to be provided for any type of video.

Many people rely on YouTube to provide an automated transcription. However, YouTube’s transcriptions aren’t always 100% accurate. It could also be so far from the truth, that it risks the chance of being offensive to the video and the user reading it. It’s beneficial to have a digital conversion of the actual text and manually edit the transcription, so it’s legitimately correct. This provides value to all users, not just users with a disability. Users who are watching a video without sound are understanding the video through its transcription. Obviously, you want them to understand the depth and content of the video. Whether or not the user has a disability, subtext can help with all users. Most users watch videos WITHOUT sound. Closed captioning can increase viewers likeability and accessibility.


  • Audio description 

Many businesses don’t actually know what audio description is and their oblivion is what leaves them exposed to an ADA lawsuit. Audio description is a second track for the video to describe what’s going on inside the video for the visually impaired. Of course someone with a visual disability can hear the video, however, they’re not watching the video. A proper secondary version should be provided with a narrator track describing the content of the video itself. This way the user can get a sense of the physical actions of the video.

Both of these tools are beneficial for users with disabilities but also for your SEO ranking. Adding these tools gives search engines more content to rank your videos higher. Closed captioning and audio description are the top two tips to integrate into your videos for ADA compliance. Learn more about ADA website compliance on this week’s episode of the Garlic Marketing Show and tune in for the expert, Jamie Layne. 

Learn more about video marketing and video ADA compliance by reading our blog post, Hiring a Videographer vs. Video Marketer: What’s Best For Your Business?  Don’t get left behind in the marketing herd, kickstart your video marketing today. 

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