Your Training Videos Aren't Accessible: A Practical WCAG and Section 508 Checklist

A required module can sound polished and still leave learners behind: the diagram is never spoken, the warning is only a color, the label is too small to read, or the player cannot be operated from the keyboard. Build accessibility into the explanation before you render. Control what is said, what is shown, and how much the viewer must process at once.

Golpo is the production workflow for that module. Start from the approved procedure, a short brief, an exact script, or your own recording. Golpo drafts the narration in Prompt Mode, plans the scenes, and holds the script at Edit script before creating video so you can approve the wording before anyone watches a finished file. You then set the visual identity, the label source, and the scene pacing, review the result, and reuse the setup for the next assignment and the next language. This guide follows current W3C Web Accessibility Initiative media guidance and Section508.gov synchronized-media guidance. Apply the standards your organization actually uses, and have a qualified reviewer confirm the requirement.

Who this is for

Learning and accessibility owners who have to ship one required module before the next assignment. The finished artifact is a short narrated explainer whose spoken track carries the lesson, whose frames can be read, and whose captions, transcript, and player are checked as separate publishing work.

The walkthrough below uses a hypothetical case-file module: verify the request, obtain manager approval, and record the decision. A missing field is a warning, and the warning has to mean “return the request before approval,” including for someone who cannot see the color.

Name the media type first

• Audio-only: narration without video. Section508.gov guidance calls for an accessible transcript that conveys equivalent information.
• Video-only: silent animation. Provide an equivalent text description or audio track according to the applicable requirement.
• Synchronized media: audio and video together. This is the usual training module, and it is the case Golpo produces when it narrates and animates the same lesson.

Produce the module in Golpo

The case-file module is a two-minute lesson. Run it in this order. The steps are the production path for the module you are about to assign.

1. Source. Use the approved procedure. In Prompt Mode, ask Golpo to teach the three actions in order, to say what the missing-field warning means, and to avoid “as you can see.” If the procedure’s sentences must stay word for word, switch to Script Mode after review and put drawing directions in Video Instructions. Script Mode allows about 1,050 characters of narration per selected minute.
2. Settings. Choose Canvas Expanded so each action has room, and group sentences with Custom Scenes so the warning occupies its own scene. Turn on on-screen text from script only. Save a high-contrast Custom Style and select it. If the real case-file form should appear, insert that image with Own Media. Optional Voice Instructions can ask for a measured pace and a pause around the warning.
3. Script review. Read the draft before rendering. The spoken track should name the requester check, the manager approval, the case-file record, and the meaning of the warning. Expand acronyms. Approve that script, then create the video.
4. Result. Watch the two-minute module against the procedure. Confirm the warning is spoken, the three actions stay in order, and each label is large enough to read for the time it stays on screen.
5. One correction. A careful script can still render a red mark with no words. If the narration is already right, use frame editing to add a text label such as “Missing field. Return before approval,” and a second cue besides color. Frame editing changes the picture. It leaves the narration and audio as they are. If the spoken line is still “as you can see,” revise the script and render again.
6. One reuse. When the same assignment goes to another language, render that language as its own video. Review the new narration, labels, captions, and transcript in that language. A translated file still needs that review. English caption timing will miss the new pace.

What each control changes

Control	What changes for this module	Plan
Prompt Mode and script review	Golpo drafts narration from the procedure. You approve words that describe the diagram, the warning, and the action before the video exists. Script Mode is the path when those words are already approved.	All plans. Length and controls vary. On Pay As You Go, edit-script-before-video bills 10% after the script and 90% after the video. Prompt and Script Mode
On-screen text from script only	Generated labels are limited to the script, and Golpo may show a subset rather than every sentence. That keeps “return before approval” available as a label. It is a picture control, and it is separate from captions and from the transcript.	Canvas and Sketch. On-screen text
Expanded layout and Custom Scenes	Expanded spreads components so the three actions are readable. Custom Scenes lets you give the warning its own scene and keep each action with its result. The map does not rewrite the narration. Notebook is Compact only.	Custom Scenes is on Growth and higher, and on Pay As You Go. Color starts at Growth. Compact and Expanded
High-contrast Custom Style	Save a named style from a reference image or a written description, then reuse it on the next module. Test contrast, text size, and color-plus-label on the actual frames. The style follows the reference; it is not a pixel copy of a brand kit or a specific typeface.	Business and higher, and Pay As You Go. Custom Style
Own Media	Insert the real case-file form so learners see the fields they use. Describe every essential field in the narration. A generated picture of a form is not evidence of your system.	Business and higher, and Pay As You Go
Voice Instructions	Ask for a clear pace and a pause after the warning so people can read the label. This directs the generated voice. It does not clone a person, and it does not time the video to the second.	Creator and higher, and Pay As You Go. Voice Instructions
Frame editing	The targeted visual correction: replace a color-only warning with a readable label. Charged on the selected duration of that version.	Business and higher, and Pay As You Go. Editing
Language variant	A separate render for the next language, with its own reviewed captions, transcript, and labels. Generating the language does not finish the accessibility work.	Creator and higher include multilingual features. Starter has a language add-on. 45+ languages are listed. Pricing

Ordinary draft and reviewed revision

Rendered without those controls, the case-file draft says “move through these three stages,” stacks the actions in one frame, and marks the warning in red alone. The accessibility review changes the production choices, then makes one visual correction:

	Ordinary draft	After accessibility review
Narration	“As you can see, complete the three stages.”	“If a required field is missing, return the request before approval. Then obtain manager approval and record the decision in the case file.”
Scenes	All three actions share one frame.	Expanded layout. The warning has its own scene, grouped in Custom Scenes before rendering.
Warning	A red mark and no words.	Spoken meaning, plus a frame-edit label and a second cue besides color. Test the contrast on that frame.
Labels	Whatever the model invents.	On-screen text limited to the approved script.

Publish a reviewed caption file and a descriptive transcript with the module. For the approved narration of this hypothetical module, the transcript begins:

Verify the request against the case file. Check that the requester, the date, and the requested action are present. If a required field is missing, return the request before approval. Next, obtain manager approval. Finally, record the decision in the case file, including the approver’s name. The module is complete when the case file shows that decision.

Captions for synchronized media also include meaningful non-speech audio, speaker identity when the picture is what identifies the speaker, and enough time to read. Human-review any automatic caption draft. Correct names, numbers, and punctuation. Current Section508.gov caption guidance covers synchronization, spelling, important sounds, and reading time. Publish the transcript as accessible HTML with a heading, logical order, and links that make sense out of context.

When the main narration already carries every important visual fact, integrated description may be enough. When the lesson still depends on an unspoken diagram, provide the equivalent your requirement calls for: integrated description, a separate described version, a secondary audio track, or a descriptive transcript. W3C distinguishes those methods. A separate audio-description track needs a player that can offer it.

Plan, duration, and credits

The module in this walkthrough is a 2-minute standard video. Standard generation uses 1 credit per selected minute, so the first render is 2 credits. A script change is a new render at the same rate. A frame edit is a charged version of that selected duration, another 2 credits, and it does not rewrite the soundtrack. A reviewed language variant is another 2-credit render at the same length. The high-contrast Custom Style, Own Media, and frame editing used here sit on Business and higher, and on Pay As You Go. Custom Scenes and color start earlier, at Growth. See pricing for current plan amounts. The Free plan is not a downloadable publishing workflow.

Where the video ends and the player begins

Keep three layers separate. A problem in one layer is not a verdict on the others.

Layer	Who does it
Golpo media	Narrated video from the approved procedure, script, or recording, with the style, labels, scenes, and voice you selected.
Text alternatives	Your caption and transcript workflow: review, synchronize, localize, and publish. Confirm the current Golpo export in the interface you use, and still review the file.
Player, page, and conformance	Your LMS, help center, intranet, or site player, plus qualified review. Golpo output does not by itself establish WCAG or Section 508 conformance.

Test the destination player, not only the MP4. Check play, pause, seek, volume, captions, audio description, playback speed, full screen, focus order, visible focus, and a way out, all from the keyboard. Section508.gov describes caption and audio-description controls at the same menu level as other player controls for applicable ICT. Also check the page around the video: headings, language, the iframe title, quizzes, downloads, and any SCORM wrapper. Those checks live in your publishing system.

Review checklist

• Approved procedure, owner, and one learning objective.
• Essential visuals are spoken, or an equivalent description is provided.
• Labels come from the script, stay up long enough to read, and use contrast you tested on the frame.
• Color is paired with a word or icon for every meaningful state.
• Reviewed captions, including meaningful sounds, and an accessible transcript.
• Keyboard-operable player with labeled controls and visible focus, tested in the real destination.
• Each released language has its own reviewed narration, labels, captions, and transcript.
• Reviewer, date, exceptions, and the next review date.

FAQ

Do captions make a training video accessible?

Captions are essential for prerecorded synchronized media with audio, and they are one part of the experience. Also plan spoken description of essential visuals, a transcript, readable labels and contrast, scene pacing, an operable player, localization with its own reviewed text alternatives, and testing with representative users.

What is the difference between captions and subtitles?

Accessibility captions include speech plus meaningful non-speech audio such as music, sound effects, speaker identification, and relevant tone. Dialogue-only subtitles may leave out information people need when they cannot hear the audio.

When does a video need audio description?

When important visual information is not already conveyed by the main audio, it needs an accessible equivalent. Depending on the applicable requirement and context, that can involve integrated description in the narration, a separate described version or track, or a media alternative. Qualified review should determine the required method.

Does using Golpo make a video WCAG or Section 508 compliant?

No. Golpo generates the narrated media. WCAG and Section 508 conformance depends on the approved script, the finished pictures, reviewed captions and transcript, the player, the surrounding page, localization, and qualified testing.

Who should test an accessible training video?

Use trained accessibility reviewers and include people with relevant disabilities when practical. Automated checks can find some technical issues and cannot establish that the full learning experience is understandable, equivalent, operable, and usable.

Is on-screen text the same as captions?

No. On-screen text from script only limits generated labels to the script and may show a subset of that wording. Captions are a separate, reviewed, synchronized text alternative for speech and meaningful sound. A transcript is a separate accessible text document. Publish and review those files in your player workflow.

Remake one required module

Before the next assignment, remake one required module in Golpo with the spoken warning, the readable scenes, and the high-contrast style. Then review that cut with representative users, and attach the caption file, transcript, and player check from the list above.

Create the module in Golpo · Compare plans

Related production context: multilingual video pipeline, SOP training library, W3C accessible-media guidance, and Section508.gov media guidance.