Create an inclusive and engaging experience for every audience with communication access services for your events, videos and written content.
ITC Global offers a full suite of accessibility services designed to help you make events and communications truly inclusive. Not sure which service is right for you? Check out the frequently asked questions below and then contact our accessibility experts if you want tailored support.
Sign language interpretation converts spoken content into a sign language during a live event. A sign language interpreter can also verbally translate from sign language into another language, such as English. This service is available in person or remote. Learn more about our interpretation services.
Sign language translation is used for translating finished text or video content. For example, add American Sign Language translation to a webinar replay so ASL speakers can understand the presentation in their primary language. Or provide an ASL translation of an important internal training guide so it’s more accessible for Deaf employees. Remember that sign languages are distinct from spoken languages, so English is often a second language for Deaf people whose primary language is ASL.
Both services are important to improve inclusion for people in your audience who are Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing.
Subtitles provide written translations of spoken dialogue in another language for things like movies, webinar replays, and videos so more people can appreciate and learn from them. Subtitles also make online video content more accessible for people who are Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing. For hearing people, they’re a good option for watching social media video content with the sound off. According to Sharethrough, 75% of people watch mobile videos with sound off!
This service combines traditional subtitles with written descriptions of sounds, atmospheres, and non-verbal elements that are essential for understanding what’s happening on-screen, providing an immersive experience for people who are Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing. These on-screen text descriptions of visual and auditory details ensure everyone can fully understand the content.
Captions are also useful for educational content because they help people who aren’t native speakers of the language understand concepts better, support viewers with learning disabilities, and facilitate comprehension for people who aren’t familiar with specialized terminology.
Audio description opens the visual world up to people who are blind or visually impaired by providing detailed commentary of visual elements in a video or film. These carefully written and narrated descriptions give users information about the action, decor, facial expressions, and visual information that’s critical for fully understanding content. Audio description involves more than just narrating the scene: it includes essential details that enrich the listener’s sensory experience. The descriptions don’t ever interrupt the spoken content of videos or films. They’re inserted during the pauses in audio content.
Our expertise in multilingual translation is what sets us apart from other audio description providers. We know how to translate and adapt descriptions for your target audience and their culture to provide a seamless, immersive experience.
Adapting educational and informational materials into Easy Read format is another way to demonstrate your commitment to accessibility. This service involves simplifying language level and structure using plain language, along with adding explicit visual elements to illustrate key information.
This adaptation makes your content more accessible to anyone with low literacy, learning difficulties or intellectual or cognitive disabilities. The goal is to allow more people to expand their knowledge and learn independently in an inclusive way.
This service provides live, verbatim transcription for immediate access to spoken content. These written captions are provided in real time as a CART writer transcribes spoken text and translates other sounds. The text is typically displayed on a large screen, laptop or mobile device.
Accessibility refers to many things. In general, it’s about designing products, services, and experiences so that everyone can use them. Here are some examples to give you a better idea of what this means in practice. In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that concert venues provide sign language interpreters so Deaf fans can fully participate in a concert. Event planners who consider accessibility will make sure seating and table arrangements allow enough space for people in wheelchairs to move freely. In the digital space, accessibility involves things like using HTML tags correctly and providing image ALT text so blind website visitors can use screen readers to access the content.
No, each country usually has its own sign language. Examples include American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL), Langue des signes de Quebec (LSQ), and Langue des signes française (LSF).
Consider all audiences when creating content. Adding multilingual subtitles is key to reaching audiences in multiple languages. Services like multilingual audio description will allow people who are Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing to engage more fully with your content.
Sign language interpretation is an excellent way to make your webinars, meetings, and conferences more inclusive and accessible. Multilingual spoken interpretation is another way to provide full access to your content in multiple languages.
Closed captions are the best option for accessibility for several reasons. First, the user can turn them on or off as needed. Users can also control the text size, color, background color or opacity of the captions to adjust the style so it meets their needs. Finally, it’s easier to make changes to closed captions since they’re separate from the video content.
Open captions are permanently embedded in a video, so they can’t be turned off by the user. This also means users can’t control their appearance. And any changes require editing and re-encoding the video. Open captions do have a couple of advantages for accessibility. For example, they work well for videos that will be embedded in presentation software like PowerPoint and displayed on digital signage without sound.
According to the International Plain Language Federation, “A communication is in plain language if its wording, structure, and design are so clear that the intended audience can easily find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information.” Use this style of communication when you have an important message you want everyone to understand.
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