Most of us think accessibility should be confined to people with disabilities, but there is more to that. It benefits people with impairments and is an added advantage for common people to enhance their content usability, especially in areas like SEO, with the perspective of worldwide experience.
The basic motto behind content accessibility is "access to all," which means everyone should have an equal chance to consume content, irrespective of disability. In addition to being a global norm, accessibility has become crucial on a legal and revenue basis.
Subtitles and captions significantly impact content accessibility, creating better content and websites for everyone. Let's look at how these tools can assist you in making your content accessible.
Why is content accessibility needed?
The foremost question that comes to mind is why we should make the content accessible. In legal terms, website accessibility should conform with the WCAG, and failing to comply poses a legal risk.
Under the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, four principles (POUR) must be followed for content to make the web accessible.
Perceivable: Through this, users can understand the facts, particulars, and information given.
Operable: Through this quality, the users could comprehend and be enabled to operate the interface
Understandable: This ensures that the user can comprehend all the information and particulars as well as the functioning of the user interface.
Robust: Through this aspect, the user can access the content as the technologies progress.
Along with the principles, success criteria consisting of levels A, AA, and AAA determine whether the content is in accordance with WCAG.
From a financial standpoint, accessibility can help secure revenue opportunities and save on costs. According to a 2022 paid report from Forrester Research, it is estimated that for every $1 invested in accessibility and improvements in user experiences, the ROI would be $100. These are some of the reasons behind it:
Global Reach: Making the content comprehensible to users of different languages helps build connections in different parts of the world and thus expands your reach.
Brand awareness: Accessibility can significantly enhance your brand reputation. By being accessible, brands can reach a wide range of audiences, including people with disabilities, who comprise a substantial part of the population. This way, a brand can stand out through users and people who value social impact.
SEO benefits: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an essential component of many brand marketing strategies to increase brand awareness, traffic, and credibility. It provides exclusive keywords to capture the audience's attention, thereby directly increasing viewership, visibility, and related aspects.
User experience: Better comprehension and visibility can improve customer experience, leading to a stronger engagement rate and financial benefits.
Enhancing accessibility through Subtitles and Captions
Another question is whether we need to add captions and subtitles to your content. The answer is yes since the goal is to provide as much access to every person as possible.
It's important to remember that people have different types of disabilities, so it's crucial to consider diverse preferences while making the content accessible. Subtitles and captions can fix this issue by providing visual support, comprehended text, and an enriching overall user experience.
Here are the explanations about how subtitles and captions can help in enhancing the accessibility:
Complying with WCAG guidelines: By the guidelines, closed captions in pre-recorded online and live streaming videos ensure accurate and synchronized captions to the audiovisual content and allow the content to be accessible to more people.
Global expansion: Subtitles and captions translate your content into different languages, thus encouraging connections with diverse communities.
Brand recall: Incorporating subtitles and captions into your content can fulfill the goal of 'expansion' in brand awareness. Research studies found that captions can increase views within the first six seconds of viewing. Increased customer engagement, improved searchability, and improved comprehension of content will help build brand reputation.
Search engine optimization: Adding subtitles and captions is proven to unlock SEO benefits and improve your search rank. Since audio and video don't have text, these captions and transcripts can help search engines utilize the keywords, allowing the content to be ranked on relevant searches. This results in an increase in viewership, which is directly proportional to the increase in subscribers and revenue generated.
One of the radio shows, "This American Life (TAL)," enjoyed this benefit, which, when its audio content was transcribed and posted online, received 6.26% of unique visitors through search engines, thus increasing its overall traffic.
User satisfaction: Captions and subtitles can help users consume content, including people with disabilities, non-native speakers, and even those in sound-sensitive environments. In addition to better understanding and enrichment of the content, this inclusivity can foster people's positive experience, engaging them to spend more time on the content.
Therefore, subtitles and captions are vital tools that play a significant role in improving and increasing accessibility. Textar aligns with the vision of removing barriers and fostering a more inclusive online experience. Our team comprises experts and linguists from various backgrounds dedicated to delivering consistent and accurate subtitles and captions. Reach out to us at sales@timbel.net
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