11. Captions

Requirement

Videos have captions that accurately represent the audio track of the video.

Evaluation Process

All videos require captions. Closed captions, which users can toggle on or off, are the preferred format, but permanently embedded open captions are also acceptable. A transcript alone is insufficient to meet this standard. Captions must be accurate, ensuring correct punctuation, capitalization, and the inclusion of significant non-speech audio cues.

Automatically generated captions (auto-captions) must be reviewed and edited by a human to meet the required accuracy standards before being published. While automatic captioning has become significantly more accurate over time, such captions still require review. Be sure to check for:

• Punctuation and capitalization errors.
• Misspelled names, technical terms, or brand names.
• Inaccurate transcription due to accents, background noise, or multiple speakers.
• A complete lack of non-speech audio cues (e.g., [music playing], [door slams]).

Scoring Guide

• Pass: All videos are captioned accurately, including punctuation, capitalization, spelling, etc.
• Partial Fail: Most videos are captioned accurately or only require minor edits.
• Fail: Videos are not captioned or have auto-captions without review.
• Not Applicable: There are no videos on the site.
• Unknown: No videos were found during testing, but it is possible there might be some outside the scope of the testing. 

More Information

• Stanford Office of Digital Accessibility: Captions

Relevant WCAG Information

• Understanding SC 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded)