If you work in the video production industry, you may be wondering how to ensure your video content is accessible for your hard-of-hearing viewers and, as a result, can be thoroughly consumed and enjoyed by every demographic within your intended target audience. It may sound like a mammoth task, especially if you have never fully understood the importance of supporting hard-of-hearing video viewers, but by familiarising yourself with a handful of helpful tips and tricks, you can be confident that your video content is not only readily available but only easily accessible for everyone. To find out how to support hard-of-hearing video viewers, continue reading.
Describe visual information
If you want to support hard-of-hearing video viewers, describing visual information should be one of the first steps you embark on. It can allow hard-of-hearing video viewers to remain fully aware of what is happening on screen and, in doing so, follow along with the action in real-time as opposed to with a delay or through the implementation of an external translator. This process can usually be completed internally with specially trained professionals able to include keywords and descriptive terms to ensure the on-screen action is fully conveyed to hard-of-hearing viewers with no key details omitted.
Provide live captioning
If visual description proves unachievable, live captioning is perhaps the easiest and most cost-effective method of supporting hard-of-hearing video viewers and, as a result, can usually be implemented in-house with a great deal of time and patience all that is required to complete the process in a timely and accurate manner. It can be tempting to rely on automatic live captioning technology, but this has the potential to transmit inaccurate results which can result in problems detecting context, sarcasm, and word emphasis. If you want to know more about live captioning and how you can incorporate it into your existing video production services going forward, you must do your research and find out more about access services before you make a final decision.
Ensure overlay text is readable
If you produce video content that includes overlay text, you must ensure it is readable for hard-of-hearing video viewers. It may sound like an obvious point to make but it is a commonly reported mistake when it comes to the ways in which hard-of-hearing viewers consume and interpret video content and can have a dramatic impact on the way in which the on-screen content flows and is understood within the intended context. This can be done by paying close attention to the font family, size, colour, and contrast between the text and the background with regular tests required throughout the entire video production process to ensure overlay text is thoroughly readable and legible from start to finish.
Consider a sign language interpreter
To support hard-of-hearing video viewers, it may benefit you to consider a sign language interpreter. It can feel like an unnecessary expense with additional external personnel required, especially if you are a small video production company, but it can also ensure your entire catalogue of videos are correctly, accurately, and fully transcribed for your hard-of-hearing video viewers with the expertise of a professional sign language interpreter also eliminating the potential for human error.
If you are looking to support your hard-of-hearing video viewers as a video production company, there are several options available to you. It may, for example, benefit you to describe visual information to allow hard-of-hearing video viewers to remain fully aware of what is happening on screen, provide live captioning manually as opposed to automatically, ensure overlay text is readable and legible, and consider a sign language interpreter for maximum precision and accuracy.
