Accessible Video Creative in Healthcare Marketing
A media-delivery checklist for accessible healthcare video, covering captions, audio description, readable on-screen text, and channel constraints.
The short answer
Healthcare video reaches people with a wide range of abilities, including many with hearing or vision loss. Accessible video is not only the right thing to do. It also helps everyone: captions help people watching with the sound off, and clear on-screen text helps people on small screens. Accessibility often breaks at the delivery stage, when a video built for one channel runs in another.
The accessibility checklist
Captions
- Are accurate captions available for every video?
- Are they burned in, or delivered as a separate file the channel supports?
- Do they include required safety information spoken in the video?
Many programmatic video channels do not support separate caption files. If captions cannot be delivered as a file, consider burned-in captions for those placements.
Audio description
- Does important visual information appear only on screen with no spoken equivalent?
- If so, is there an audio-described version or does the voiceover cover it?
On-screen text
- Is text large enough to read on a phone and from across the room on a TV?
- Is contrast sufficient? The WCAG contrast guidelines are a useful reference.
- Does text stay on screen long enough to read?
Risk information
- Is required safety information presented in a way people can follow, whether they rely on audio or text?
- The FDA's guidance on presenting risk information addresses clarity and prominence.
Pace and clarity
- Is the voiceover pace understandable?
- Are there flashing or rapidly changing visuals that could cause discomfort?
Channel constraints
| Channel | Common accessibility issue |
|---|---|
| CTV | Caption file support varies by app and player |
| Online video | Autoplay often muted; captions essential |
| YouTube | Supports caption files; check auto-generated accuracy |
| Social video | Mostly muted viewing; burned-in captions usually best |
Check with each partner which caption formats are supported before trafficking.
Build accessibility into the workflow
Accessibility problems are cheapest to fix during production. Add these steps:
- Include accessibility requirements in the creative brief.
- Review captions and on-screen text during medical, legal, and regulatory review.
- Confirm channel support in prelaunch QA.
- Spot-check live placements after launch.
Connect to the landing experience
Accessible video that leads to an inaccessible website breaks the journey. Apply the same standards to the landing experience and patient support handoff.
Practical takeaway
Add a five-line accessibility section to every video brief: captions, audio description, on-screen text, risk information clarity, and channel caption support. Check it again before launch.
Sources
- W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
- FDA, Presenting Risk Information in Prescription Drug and Medical Device Promotion
External guidance and platform documentation change. Links were current at publication; check them again before relying on them for a decision.
Editorial note. Analysis and frameworks are the author's own and do not represent Acxiom or any current or former employer, client, or named platform. Examples labeled hypothetical or illustrative are not results from real campaigns. Nothing here is legal, regulatory, or medical advice.
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