Accessible video on a store: the parts that matter

Accessible video is usually discussed as compliance. It is more usefully thought of as the same work as making video that performs: most of what helps a screen reader user also helps a shopper on a bus with the sound off.

Autoplay and sound

Video that autoplays with sound is the clearest failure, and browsers now largely prevent it, which is a mercy. Muted autoplay is acceptable and is what every store should be doing.

If a video has meaningful audio, give the shopper a control to unmute — visible, reachable, and not hidden behind a hover state that does not exist on a phone.

Captions

The single highest-value thing, and it is not primarily an accessibility win. A majority of people watch social video muted, so captions are how your video communicates to most of its audience regardless of hearing.

Burned-in captions are fine for short product clips and are the practical choice for imported social video. Just check them at card size — text sized for a full-screen phone is frequently illegible in a grid.

Motion

Some people have a setting on their device asking for reduced motion, usually because movement makes them unwell. Looping video that plays constantly in the corner of the eye is exactly what that setting is about.

The respectful behaviour is to show a still frame with a play control when that preference is set, rather than autoplaying. It costs nothing and the people it affects notice immediately.

Keyboard and screen readers

A video card that opens a player must be reachable and operable by keyboard: focusable, activated by Enter, closable by Escape, with focus returning to the card that was opened. This is also, incidentally, what makes the player pleasant for power users.

Decorative elements should be hidden from assistive technology rather than described. A screen reader announcing a decorative phone mock-up is noise, not information.

Alternative text

A video needs a text equivalent that says what it shows — “a linen shirt being worn and moved in” rather than “video”. It is the same sentence that improves how a search engine understands the page, which is a useful coincidence.

The proportionate version

If you do four things: muted autoplay, captions, respecting reduced-motion, and keyboard-operable players — you have handled the great majority of what matters for product video, and you have made the video work better for everyone else at the same time.