WEBCAST CAPTIONING


With the internet now the gateway to many services including educational, financial, social, government and for an array of other businesses, your online presence has never been more important.

At Bytext, with many years’ experience in the government and corporate event transcript sector, we have the experience to assist your organisation in meeting WCAG 2.0 requirements to provide your audience with a more accessible online experience.

Web content including video and audio (podcasts) are an increasingly viable business tool and to ensure your service meets the Webcast Content Accessibility Guidelines WCAG 2.0 ‘A’, closed captioning for video (with transcripts) and transcripts for audio will provide access to those with hearing or learning disabilities as well as to those who speak English as a second language.

Businesses that have an online presence should provide accessibility to disabled users. Not only are there ethical and commercial justifications for implementing the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, there are also legal reasons. If a business's website does not meet the Accessibility Guidelines, then the website owner could be sued for discrimination.

WCAG 2.0 is a technical standard developed under the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 agencies must ensure that people with disabilities have the same fundamental rights to access information and services as others in the community.

In Australia:

  • All state and territory government websites must conform to the guidelines to meet WCAG 2.0 Level A by December 2012.

  • All Australian Government (Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997) (FMA Act) agencies must conform to WCAG 2.0 Level AA standard by December 2014.

WCAG 2.0 – Level A

  • Captions are provided for all
    pre-recorded audio content in synchronized media, except when the media is a media alternative for text and is clearly labelled as such. (Level A)

WCAG 2.0 – Level AA

  • Captions are provided for all live audio content in synchronized media. (Level AA)