Closed captions provide a textual representation of a video’s audio, helping deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors follow it. They can also help people with learning disabilities or attention deficits stay focused. Treat captions as a basic accessibility check whenever a page embeds video or audio. section 8.6.2 section 8.2
To show captions on an embedded YouTube video:
- Find the video in YouTube, play it, select Share, choose Embed, and copy the embed code. section 5.8
- In the page editor, switch to the Text tab and paste the iframe embed code. section 5.8
- Replace VIDEOIDGOESHERE with the video’s ID, retain the cc_load_policy=1 setting, then Publish or Update the page. section 5.8
- View the published page as a visitor to confirm that captions appear with the video. section 5.8
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube .com/embed/VIDEOIDGOESHERE?cc_load_policy=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This iframe pattern embeds a YouTube video and uses cc_load_policy=1 to load captions. Replace the placeholder with the selected video ID. section 5.8
Captions belong in a wider manual accessibility review alongside readable contrast and type size, alternative text, keyboard access, responsive layouts, and clear navigation. Automated accessibility plugins may miss problems, so check the finished page yourself. section 5.8 section 8.6.2
Media checklist
Before publishing a video or audio item, check that it fits the site’s purpose, is not distracting or autoplaying, is permitted for use, and includes captions or a transcript. This keeps media useful as well as accessible. section 8.2
