Video captioning is no longer optional.
The deadlines are here.
Three major regulations now require captions on video content: ADA Title II, WCAG 2.1, and the European Accessibility Act.
If your organization publishes video, you need to understand what's required, by when, and what happens if you don't comply.
Gary Sztajnman
Founder, Hello8
European Accessibility Act
June 28, 2025
ADA Title II (50k+ pop.)
April 24, 2026
EAA Pre-existing Content
June 28, 2030
Key takeaways
- ADA Title II now requires WCAG 2.1 AA compliance for state and local government web content. Entities serving 50,000+ people must comply by April 24, 2026.
- WCAG 2.1 Level AA mandates captions for all prerecorded and live audio content in synchronized media — not just video with spoken dialogue.
- The European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) is already in effect as of June 28, 2025. Pre-existing content must comply by June 28, 2030.
- Auto-generated captions alone do not satisfy compliance requirements. Accuracy, synchronization, completeness, and speaker identification all matter.
- The industry standard for professional captioning is 99% accuracy — approximately 15 or fewer errors per 1,500 words.
ADA Title II: What Changed in 2024
On April 24, 2024, the Department of Justice published a final rule (28 CFR Part 35, Subpart H) establishing technical requirements for web content and mobile app accessibility. For the first time, the ADA has a specific, measurable standard for digital accessibility: WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
This matters for video because WCAG 2.1 Level AA includes explicit captioning requirements (Success Criteria 1.2.2 and 1.2.4). Every public entity publishing video content online — municipal meeting recordings, public health announcements, educational materials, court proceedings — must now provide captions that meet these standards.
Compliance deadlines
April 24, 2026 — entities serving populations of 50,000 or more. April 26, 2027 — entities serving populations under 50,000 and special district governments.
Who must comply
- State and local government agencies — municipalities, counties, public transit authorities
- Public universities and community colleges
- Public libraries, school districts, and courts
- Public health agencies, DMVs, and emergency services
Enforcement is through private lawsuits under 42 USC 12133 (injunctive relief, compensatory damages, attorney's fees) and DOJ enforcement actions. Non-compliance carries real legal risk: the DOJ has already pursued settlements against universities and municipalities for inaccessible digital content.
WCAG 2.1 Level AA: The Technical Standard
WCAG 2.1 is the technical standard referenced by both ADA Title II and the European Accessibility Act. Understanding its specific captioning criteria is essential for compliance. Three success criteria directly govern video captions:
SC 1.2.2 — Captions (Prerecorded)
Level A
Captions must be provided for all prerecorded audio content in synchronized media. Captions must convey dialogue, identify speakers, and describe relevant sound effects and music. This applies to any video with spoken audio — training videos, webinars, promotional content, recorded meetings.
SC 1.2.4 — Captions (Live)
Level AA
Captions must be provided for all live audio content in synchronized media. This is the criterion that makes live captioning mandatory at Level AA — covering live streams, virtual events, council meetings, and real-time broadcasts.
SC 1.2.5 — Audio Description (Prerecorded)
Level AA
Audio description is required for all prerecorded video content in synchronized media. When visual information is essential to understanding the content, an audio description track must narrate what's happening on screen.
These criteria haven't changed since WCAG 2.0 — but with ADA Title II now referencing them by law, they've moved from best practice to legal obligation. The standard is clear: if your video has audio, it needs captions.
European Accessibility Act (EAA)
The European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882), adopted in June 2019, is the EU's most significant accessibility regulation to date. Unlike the ADA, which targets government entities, the EAA applies broadly to private-sector products and services sold in the EU — including audiovisual media services, e-commerce platforms, and digital content providers.
The EAA requires captions to be high-quality, synchronized, and user-controllable. Auto-generated captions do not meet the standard unless they achieve professional-grade accuracy. Organizations must also provide audio descriptions for visual content and allow users to customize caption appearance (font, color, positioning).
June 28, 2025 — New content
All new products and services must comply. This deadline has already passed.
June 28, 2030 — Existing content
Pre-existing content published before June 2025 must be brought into compliance.
Microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees, under 2M EUR annual turnover) are exempt, but all other organizations serving EU audiences must comply. Member states set their own penalties, which the directive requires to be "effective, proportionate, and dissuasive."
What Counts as Compliant Captions
Meeting a compliance deadline means nothing if your captions don't meet quality standards. The FCC's captioning rules (47 CFR 79.1) establish four quality pillars: accuracy, synchronicity, completeness, and placement. While these rules formally apply to television programming, they've become the de facto benchmark across the industry.
99%
Accuracy
Industry standard for professional pre-recorded captioning
15-20
CPS
Characters per second — the comfortable reading speed range
<1.5s
Sync tolerance
Maximum offset between audio and captions (BBC guideline)
These numbers matter because auto-generated captions typically fall well short. YouTube's auto-captions, for example, average around 60-80% accuracy. That's not a compliance gap you can hand-wave away. Hello8's subtitle quality check tool can help you verify whether your current captions meet these thresholds.
Common Compliance Mistakes
These are the issues we see most often when organizations try to meet captioning requirements on their own:
Relying on auto-captions alone
YouTube, Zoom, and Teams auto-captions are convenient but typically achieve 60-80% accuracy. That's hundreds of errors per hour of content — far below the 99% standard.
Missing speaker identification
Compliance requires identifying who is speaking. Auto-captions almost never include speaker labels, which is essential for panel discussions, interviews, and meetings.
Ignoring non-speech audio
Captions must describe significant sound effects, music, and ambient audio. [applause], [phone ringing], [background music] — these matter for comprehension and are required by WCAG.
No SDH (Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing)
Standard subtitles only transcribe dialogue. SDH captions include speaker identification, sound descriptions, and music notation — all required for true accessibility compliance.
Captions too fast to read
Even accurate captions fail compliance if they exceed comfortable reading speeds. Industry guidelines recommend 15-20 CPS (characters per second). Auto-generated captions rarely optimize for reading speed.
How to Get Compliant
A practical four-step approach to meeting captioning requirements across ADA, WCAG, and EAA:
Audit your video inventory
Catalog all video content across your website, LMS, social channels, and internal platforms. Identify which videos have captions, which don't, and which have auto-captions that need upgrading.
Choose the right caption format
SRT and VTT are the most widely supported formats. VTT supports styling and positioning for web players. For broadcast, consider TTML or EBU-STL. Use the format your distribution platform requires.
Use professional captioning with human review
AI-powered transcription gets you to 95%. Human review closes the gap to 99%+. For compliance, that last 4% matters — it's the difference between "mostly right" and "legally defensible."
Validate and maintain quality
Run quality checks on every caption file: CPS, timing overlaps, speaker labels, completeness. Set up a workflow that includes QA validation before publishing — not after a complaint.
The April 2026 ADA deadline is days away.
Start your compliance auditSee our accessibility commitmentFrequently Asked Questions
Do auto-generated captions satisfy ADA compliance?
No. The ADA requires WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance, which mandates accurate, synchronized captions. Auto-captions from YouTube, Zoom, or Teams typically achieve 60-80% accuracy, which falls significantly short of the 99% industry standard. Professional captioning with human review is required to meet compliance.
What are the penalties for non-compliance with ADA Title II?
ADA Title II enforcement is through private lawsuits (42 USC 12133) and DOJ enforcement actions. Remedies include injunctive relief, compensatory damages, and attorney's fees. The DOJ has already pursued settlements against universities and municipalities for inaccessible digital content, including video without captions.
Does the European Accessibility Act apply to companies outside the EU?
Yes, if you sell products or services to EU consumers. The EAA applies to any organization offering audiovisual media services, e-commerce, or digital content to EU audiences, regardless of where the company is based. Microenterprises (under 10 employees and 2M EUR turnover) are exempt.
What caption format should I use for compliance?
VTT (WebVTT) is the recommended format for web video — it supports styling, positioning, and is natively supported by HTML5 video players. SRT is widely compatible and works across most platforms. For broadcast or streaming services, check platform-specific requirements (Netflix uses TTML, for example).
Do I need to caption old videos or only new ones?
For ADA Title II, the rule applies to all web content after the compliance deadline — including existing video content. The EAA gives a transition period until June 28, 2030 for content published before June 2025. However, new content must comply immediately. We recommend prioritizing high-traffic and public-facing videos first.
How is caption accuracy measured?
The industry standard is 99% accuracy for pre-recorded content, meaning approximately 15 or fewer errors per 1,500 words. Accuracy encompasses correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, speaker identification, and non-speech audio descriptions. The FCC uses a qualitative 'de minimis error' standard rather than a fixed percentage, evaluating errors by type and impact.
ADA Title II compliance deadline: April 24, 2026
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