# Accessible Multimedia

**Source**: https://accessibility.web-resources.upenn.edu/resources/captioning/accessible-multimedia
**Parent**: https://accessibility.web-resources.upenn.edu/resources/captioning

Captions and transcripts provide a way for all users to access information and content in the way that they need it. These text-based equivalents create an equally effective experience for users in many ways:

- Provides access for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals
- Improves comprehension for multilingual views
- Increases comprehension and retention for students
- Allows for flexible viewing in sound-sensitive environments
- Boosts SEO and searchability of videos and audio

## When to caption

Captioning is required for:

- For live events or any videos used during an event/course where an accommodation is requested from a student, staff member, attendee, or other person who requires captioning
- All public-facing videos on Penn websites, web applications, or social media account. This includes recorded events and sales and marketing videos
- All public-facing live events, such as commencement

Captioning and live-captioning requirements apply even when you are hosting your videos or events elsewhere, such as YouTube or Zoom.

## When to transcribe

Transcripts are used to make audio-only content, such as Podcasts and audio uploaded to SoundCloud, more accessible.

Transcription is required for:

- For any audio content used in an event/course where an accommodation is requested from a student, staff member, or other person who requires transcription
- All public-facing audio on Penn websites and web applications

## Prioritization guidelines

If you need to remediate your multimedia, follow these guidelines and best practices.

### Highest priority

1. When an accommodation is requested from a student, staff member, attendee, or any other person who requests captioning
2. When the multimedia is newly created and/or uploaded to a public Penn property
3. When the multimedia will be shared across channels and/or over an extended period of time
4. When the multimedia will be reused in new courses, existing courses, or used in a course for more than one semester
5. When the multimedia is on a public facing web page

### Other prioritization considerations

- When purchasing multimedia or media creation services, it should be delivered in a captioned state. It’s recommended to build this into your budget and media creation workflows.
- If you do not have the in-house capacity or technical support, you may have to outsource live-captioning, captioning, and transcription services.
- Caption all archived multimedia upon request, and caption all frequently requested multimedia.