Video Content Accessibility Checker

Video content accounts for over 80% of all internet traffic, making it the most consumed media format on the web. Yet the vast majority of online video is inaccessible to the 466 million people worldwide with disabling hearing loss (WHO) and the 2.2 billion with vision impairment.

Captions don't just serve deaf users — 85% of Facebook video is watched without sound, and captions improve comprehension for non-native speakers, users in noisy environments, and people with cognitive disabilities. Despite this, caption compliance remains poor: a 2024 study found over 60% of business websites have uncaptioned video. With the ADA Title II deadline of April 24, 2026 and the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), legal risk is significant.

Video accessibility spans the content itself, the player controls, and the surrounding page elements. CompliScan detects these page-level issues:

• Missing or auto-generated captions — YouTube's auto-captions have an error rate of 10-35% depending on audio quality, speaker accents, and technical terminology. Auto-captions alone do not meet WCAG requirements for accuracy.
• No transcript available — WCAG 1.2.1 requires a text alternative for audio content. Embedding a video without a linked or inline transcript fails this criterion and excludes users who cannot consume video or audio content.
• Inaccessible video player controls — custom video players with mouse-only controls that cannot be operated by keyboard, lacking visible focus indicators, play/pause labels, and volume control accessibility.
• Auto-playing video — video that plays automatically with sound violates WCAG 1.4.2 (Audio Control) and can disorient users with cognitive disabilities. Auto-playing video without a visible, accessible pause mechanism is a common violation.

Run a free CompliScan scan on pages containing video content. The scanner evaluates the video player's HTML structure, iframe attributes, control accessibility, and surrounding content for transcript links.

For captions, always use human-reviewed captions rather than relying on auto-generation. Services like Rev, 3Play Media, and Otter.ai provide affordable caption services. Upload caption files (SRT or VTT) to your video host. For transcripts, provide a full text transcript on the same page or linked directly below the video player. For audio descriptions, provide an alternative audio track or a descriptive text version of visual-only content.

For player controls, use native HTML5 <video> controls where possible, as they're keyboard-accessible by default. If using a custom player, ensure all controls have labels (aria-label="Play"), keyboard handlers, and visible focus indicators. CompliScan's Shield plan ($49/mo) monitors your video pages weekly.

Video accessibility is governed by multiple overlapping regulations. The ADA requires accessible communications, courts have applied this to online video. The CVAA (21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act) specifically mandates captioning for online video that was previously shown on television, and its scope is expanding. Section 508 requires captioned video on federal websites. The European Accessibility Act covers digital media services.

The April 24, 2026 ADA Title II deadline requires government video content to meet WCAG 2.1 AA, including captions (1.2.2), audio descriptions (1.2.5), and accessible player controls. Non-compliance penalties include fines up to $75,000 for first violations and $150,000 for subsequent violations under ADA Title III.

Automated tools like CompliScan detect approximately 30-40% of video-related WCAG issues, including missing iframe titles, auto-play detection, and player control accessibility. Caption quality and audio description completeness require manual review.