Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

Strive for comprehension

For people who do not read well or not at all, multimedia (non-text) equivalents may help facilitate comprehension. Beware that multimedia presentations do not always make text easier to understand. Sometimes, multimedia presentations may make it more confusing. (W3C)

Examples of multimedia that supplement text:

1. A chart of complex data, such as sales figures of a business for the past fiscal year.
2. A translation of the text into a Sign Language movie clip. Sign Language is a very different language than spoken languages. For example, some people who may communicate via American Sign Language may not be able to read American English.
3. Pre-recorded audio of music, spoken language, or sound effects may also help non-readers who can perceive audio presentations. Although text may be generated as speech through speech synthesis, changes in a recorded speaker's voice can convey information that is lost through synthesis.