Real Talk on New Captioning Requirements

Most government media operations want to make their coverage of city council and other meetings more inclusive. But new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, specifically Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA, have made the closed captioning conversation unavoidable, as some governments will need to comply with the new rules as early as April 2026. Instead of treating captioning as a box to check, maybe it’s time to start seeing it as a core part of your city’s digital strategy.

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Whether you’re approaching it from an ADA compliance standpoint or community engagement angle, closed captioning is no longer a “nice to have” in your video strategy. Not only are residents increasingly demanding captioning, but it will soon be federally required, too. Department of Justice (DOJ) guidance and local accessibility advocates are pushing cities toward more inclusive government communications, and captioning is at the center of that.

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Captioning Basics

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How do you generate closed captions for live content? Traditionally, it was done using a human captioning service that transcribed the meeting in real time and fed the transcription into a caption encoder. Human captioning is still around, but it’s very expensive.

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These days, AI-based captioning services replace humans with an Automatic Speech Recognizer (ASR). These services are much more affordable and can provide not only captions but multiple language translations.

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It’s important to note that these speech-to-text ASR technologies are creating a transcript, which is a written version of what is being said during a program. Captions, which display text on video, are created from the transcript. There are different “flavors” of captions, so let’s do a quick review.

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Open captions are burned into the video and you can’t turn them off. In contrast, closed captions can be turned on or off by the viewer. So can subtitles. There are some technical standards related to closed captions with regard to broadcast delivery, but on the web, subtitles and closed captions are used almost interchangeably.

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Essentially, WCAG 2.1 AA requires closed captions for pre-recorded, video-on-demand content that you can watch on a website or mobile app. But it also requires closed captions for live video and audio on your website. So, basically, you need captioning on all your web-based video content, though the ADA doesn’t require you to caption content created before your compliance date.

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The new requirements also include audio descriptions, which provide a sort of narration for the visual content, for all prerecorded video. This is separate from captioning and can be very expensive. What content needs audio description? There are rules and exceptions here, so you’ll want to consult with your legal team to learn exactly what you need to be in compliance.

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Here’s a general rule of thumb: If you’re “watching” TV, even though you’re in the other room cooking dinner and can’t see the picture, could you follow what’s happening? Some programming, such as a talking head interview, would need little if any audio description. Other programming, such as an action movie that relies on visuals to advance the plot, would likely need extensive audio description.

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Accessibility Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated

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If your department is still relying on manual captioning—or worse, skipping it altogether because it's too hard—you’re not alone. Many municipal IT directors and video specialists are struggling with clunky workflows and fragmented solutions. But media accessibility solutions for government don’t have to be complicated.

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There are automation platforms that integrate directly into your existing workflows, whether you're livestreaming city hall meetings, distributing content to your PEG channels, or posting videos on platforms like YouTube. The right tools can give you captions, transcriptions, multilingual audio services, and compliance reports from one dashboard. Make sure your captioning solution can deliver to all your content destinations.

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Ultimately, accessible municipal services require coordination across multiple departments, including IT, AV, legal, and communications. If you’re looking to lead or support a more collaborative approach to local government media strategies, closed captioning is a great place to start. It’s visible and impactful, plus it connects directly to engagement efforts and compliance goals.

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Tightrope Media Systems recently presented “Demystifying Closed Captioning: What WCAG 2.1 AA Really Requires for Government Video.” Hosted by COO Dana Healy and CTO Ray Tiley, the program cuts through the jargon and gets real about what captioning actually is, why it matters for digital media accessibility in local government, and how to choose the right solution without falling for overpriced gimmicks or underperforming tools. Want more info? Watch the replay here.