Marketing is one of many industries that can significantly impact the fight for increased accessibility. Creating accessible digital content — particularly videos — levels the playing field and makes it easier for more people to discover information, products, and services. Accessible video marketing also allows your business to genuinely connect with a broader audience.
It’s crucial to learn more about how to make your videos accessible, but also why making them accessible is important for your business and customers alike. Here’s what you should know.
Covered in this article
Why Accessibility Is Crucial in Video Marketing
The first and most important reason accessibility is important for video marketing is your audience. Worldwide, roughly one billion people have a disability of some kind, and this number is expected to increase. If your videos are accessible, more people will be able to enjoy them and engage with your brand.
In other words, you can expand your reach and make it easier for your business to find new customers. Further, customers may be more likely to be loyal to your brand, particularly if your competitors don’t make their marketing videos accessible. They may be more likely to choose your business, as well as return in the future.
Accessible video marketing can also positively impact the reputation of your brand. You can show consumers that your brand is inclusive. This can make individuals with disabilities feel seen and welcomed, as well as show others that your business is committed to creating an inclusive environment for everyone. With accessible marketing videos, you can work to boost the authenticity of your brand and improve your standing in the public eye.
Worldwide, roughly one billion people have a disability of some kind, and this number is expected to increase. If your videos are accessible, more people will be able to enjoy them and engage with your brand.
Five Tips for Ensuring Your Videos are Accessible
To enjoy these benefits, you have to put in the work to ensure your videos are accessible to the widest possible audience. Here are several tips to help you do so.
Grow Your Accessibility, Diversity, and Inclusion Knowledge
For your audience to see your accessibility efforts as genuine, you’ve got to fully understand and respect the need for accessibility, diversity, and inclusion. Accessibility, diversity, and inclusion are incredibly nuanced topics. It’s all too easy to do something that negatively impacts the very people you’re working to help and engage with. Expanding your knowledge in these areas is critical to producing videos that everyone can enjoy.
Begin your journey on the Web Accessibility Initiative website. This site provides myriad resources about how to make websites accessible and continually updates their guidelines. This is a great starting point, though you should continue to read, learn, and grow from there.
Then, move on to intentional, continuous inclusivity training for your staff. To prioritize accessibility, it’s just as important for them to understand these topics so they can handle their work with care. Take the rest of your marketing team with you to these ongoing trainings to learn how to best communicate with diverse groups and create materials that are digitally accessible.
Keep Your Videos Simple
Simplicity is fundamental to video accessibility. Long, low-quality, unorganized videos aren’t something your entire audience can comprehend, let alone enjoy. Short, entertaining, quality videos that stick to one topic are much more conducive to an accessible video experience. They’re also typically easier for individuals without disabilities to watch.
Keep your videos simple and ensure as many people in your audience get through them seamlessly by:
- Using simple language.
- Keeping your videos under two minutes long.
- Breaking up long videos with bookmarks.
- Sticking to one topic in each video.
- Using the correct video format for the platform you’re publishing on.
Use Subtitles and Captions
Captions and subtitles are critical in making your videos more accessible, particularly to individuals with sensory or hearing-related impairments. All of your viewers can leverage these alternative description options, even if they aren’t living with a disability that makes them necessary.
For instance, video subtitles allow users to watch your content, even if they speak a different language. Your videos become accessible to them because they can switch the language over to their first language via subtitles. Subtitles and captions also benefit anyone who wants to watch a video but would prefer not to do so with sound, such as in a public setting.
Subtitles and captions aid accessibility in a case where someone is living with a permanent or situational hearing disability. They can turn your video captions on and enjoy your video, even though they can’t hear it. This is also helpful for people who have sensory processing conditions or sensitivities, including individuals who are neurodiverse.
Take the time to add subtitles and captions to all of your videos. Of course, doing so will require extra work and effort. You have to determine who will create them and how you’ll do so. But this work is worth it for the increased accessibility.
Captions and subtitles are critical in making your videos more accessible, particularly to individuals with sensory or hearing-related impairments. All of your viewers can leverage these alternative description options, even if they aren’t living with a disability that makes them necessary.
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Pay Attention to Color
The conversation around color use in marketing is a big one. Not only are colors thought to evoke certain emotions, but they also impact how easy it is for someone to view your content. Therefore, paying attention to color use in your videos is critical, just like in the rest of your marketing content.
Use high-contrast colors in your videos to ensure they’re more eye-catching and visible to viewers. You also want to choose color combos that work for many people, including individuals who are color-blind. Monochrome colors typically are a safe bet.
Focus on Quality
You won’t be able to prioritize accessibility in your video marketing without a commitment to quality. You must do what it takes to ensure each video and its accompanying audio is of the highest quality. Having a smaller library of well-produced videos is far better than a larger number of poor or rushed videos.
It starts with recording every video with reliable equipment. Even if you have to start with your smartphone, the goal should be to work up to top-tier video recording equipment. In addition, your editing software should be high-grade so that you can effectively polish your video and audio.
Once your video is complete, review your version of an accessibility checklist before making everything public. For example, you could ask yourself questions about the navigation, how it looks, if subtitles and captions work, and if the marketing message itself is digestible.
Simply put, whatever you need to do to ensure your video is up to quality and accessibility standards, do it. Prioritizing accessibility in your video marketing is a smart move. You’ll create more inclusive content, connect with a broader target audience, and better your brand’s reputation. The tips above will help you ensure that all your video materials are as accessible as can be.
Author:
Luke Smith
