Accessibility

 

Why should you caption all your content?

Posted On LinkedIn By:

Catarina Rivera, MSEd, MPH (she/ella)

Disability Speaker and DEI Consultant | Improve Accessibility and Inclusion to Retain Employees and Design Better Products

www.LinkedIn.com/in/catarinarivera

• 83% of the content in the US is viewed with the sound off.
• 80% of people are more likely to finish watching a video when it has captions.
• Captions improve comprehension of your video content.
• Captions support auditory processing and can be helpful when there are distractions.
• Captions help those who speak English as a second language.
• You can reach a larger audience with captions.
• Over 460 million people worldwide are hard of hearing. Captions make your content accessible to them.
• Captions can be used to create video transcripts. These transcripts can improve your SEO rankings.

Accessibility is the right thing to do.
Now you know it's also good for business.
Caption everything.

Meeting Accessibility:  Is your club accessible to deaf people?

One of the questions of the Rotary Four-Way Test is “Is it fair to all concerned?  Being fair to people with disabilities involves making certain the virtual and in-person meetings are accessible to everyone.

Here are some best practice tips to help make Rotary meetings and videos more accessible to deaf people

-  Upload all the videos to YouTube & turn on the closed caption option in the settings.

-  Switch closed captions and transcripts on during any online meetings

- Use programs such a zoom that has a call-in number so that deaf members can dial in and use sign language interpreter applications

- Remember that closed caption can run seconds behind the conversations.  Give deaf people time to read the captions in order to participate in the meeting.

- Use closed caption-friendly applications for better inclusivity.

-  For lip-reading individuals, encourage speakers to face forward and talk directly to the people without covering the mouth.

 
- Provide front seat access to deaf individuals.

- When someone asks to repeat something, repeat the comment in the same original words.

 

These tips were provided by Diverse Abilities United which is a Rotary disabilities advisory committee. If you have any questions or are interested in disability diversity, equality and inclusion activities, write to the committee at daurotary@gmail.com