Make a YouTube video accessible with captions and a transcript

YouTube's own auto-captions cover a lot of ground, but they're not guaranteed — older uploads, livestream replays, and non-English audio are the videos most likely to have none at all, which is exactly the content most likely to get missed in an accessibility pass.

Exporting SRT or VTT gives you a caption track to attach or upload as a replacement for a missing or low-quality one. For screen-reader users specifically, publish the plain-text transcript alongside the video too — a screen reader can read text on a page directly, but it can't parse a caption track embedded inside a video player.

• SRT/VTT export replaces missing or unreliable auto-captions with a clean caption file.
• A published plain-text transcript is readable by screen readers, unlike an in-player caption track.
• AI fallback covers the videos most likely to lack captions in the first place — older uploads and livestream VODs.

Workflow

1. Transcribe the YouTube video.
2. Export SRT/VTT and attach it as the video's caption track.
3. Also publish the plain-text transcript on the page — a screen reader can read page text directly, but it can't parse a caption track embedded in a video player.

FAQ