Considering accessibility while recording a tutorial
Adding captions is genuinely important and often treated as the entire accessibility checklist for video content. It’s one piece, not the whole job — a few other things matter just as much and get skipped far more often.
Narrate what you’re clicking, not just what happens
A sighted viewer following your cursor sees which button you clicked. A viewer using a screen reader, or someone not watching closely, gets nothing from a silent click — narrating the specific action (“clicking the Settings gear icon in the top right”) rather than assuming the visual is self-explanatory closes a gap captions alone don’t address, since a caption of silence is still silence.
Describe visual-only information out loud
If a demonstration relies on a color change, an icon appearing, or a visual state that isn’t verbally described, that information is genuinely inaccessible to anyone who can’t see it clearly — colorblind viewers, low-vision viewers, screen reader users all lose this if it’s purely visual. “The button turns green when it’s ready” is a small addition that closes a real gap.
Keyboard-only navigation deserves its own callout, if relevant
If your tutorial demonstrates a workflow, consider explicitly mentioning keyboard alternatives to mouse actions where they exist — not as the primary demonstration necessarily, but as a spoken aside (“you can also Tab to this field and press Enter”) that serves viewers who navigate without a mouse for accessibility reasons, without requiring you to restructure the entire tutorial around it.
Pacing matters more than people realize
Moving too quickly through steps disadvantages more than just non-native speakers (covered in our separate guide on that specific topic) — it also affects viewers processing information more slowly for a range of reasons, and screen reader users who need time for their own tool to catch up with what’s happening on screen.
Provide a text-based alternative when the content allows it
For content that’s fundamentally instructional rather than requiring visual demonstration to make sense, a written version alongside the video (not necessarily a full transcript, but a step-by-step text summary) gives screen reader users and anyone who prefers text a genuinely usable alternative, rather than requiring them to extract information from a format not built for their tools.
This isn’t just about compliance
Beyond any legal or institutional accessibility requirement your context might have, these practices generally make content clearer for everyone — narrating actions, describing visual state, and pacing deliberately are simply good instructional habits that happen to matter most for accessibility, not niche accommodations that only help a small audience.
Frequently asked questions
Are captions enough to make a screen recording accessible?
No — captions handle spoken audio, but visual-only information (color changes, icon states) and screen-reader-specific needs (narrated actions, keyboard alternatives) require separate, deliberate attention.
Does accessible video content only help viewers with disabilities?
No — narrating actions clearly, describing visual state, and pacing deliberately tend to improve clarity for all viewers, not just those who specifically need these accommodations.
Should every tutorial include a text-based alternative?
Where the content allows it, yes — a step-by-step text summary gives screen reader users and text-preferring viewers a genuinely usable option alongside the video.
Related reading: Adding captions to a screen recording the fast way · Recording a tutorial when narration isn’t your first language · The beginner’s guide to screen recording