What is The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a landmark civil rights law in the United States that protects individuals with disabilities from discrimination and ensures equal access to opportunities and public life. The law, passed in 1990, marked a major turning point in disability rights, extending protections similar to those provided by earlier civil rights legislation addressing discrimination based on race, sex, and religion.

The law requires organizations to provide accessible communication, including transcription, captions, and subtitles, so content can be understood by everyone regardless of hearing or cognitive ability. And like with any law, violators are held accountable through complaints, investigations, and potential legal action, which may result in fines, settlements, or mandated accessibility improvements to ensure compliance.

So, if you produce videos for public consumption, you NEED to know the ADA and how a trusted transcription service provider like Ditto Transcripts can help you pass requirements with flying colors.

What Are The Requirements For ADA Compliance

ADA’s core requirement is effective communication, providing people with disabilities auxiliary aids and services to help them access programs, services, and information on equal footing with others.

For videos produced for public consumption, this usually means the content needs to be accessible to people with hearing, vision, or speech disabilities. Here’s what you need to consider to achieve compliance:

Category	Requirement	Details	Exceptions
General Video Accessibility	Ensure accessibility for users with disabilities	Video content must be accessible to individuals with hearing, vision, or speech disabilities	None specified at this level
Captioning	Provide captions	Videos should include captioning so people who are deaf or hard of hearing can understand audio content	May not be required if it causes undue burden or fundamental alteration
Audio Description	Provide audio descriptions when needed	Important visual information should be described in audio form for users who are blind or have low vision	Not required if it causes undue financial/administrative burden or fundamentally changes the nature of the content
Scope (Title II Public Entities)	Apply to all public-facing video content	Applies to videos and TV programs that are produced, distributed, or made available to the public	Not required if it causes undue financial/administrative burden or fundamentally changes the nature of the content
Legal Standard	Effective communication	Accessibility measures must ensure users can understand the content	Exception if it results in undue financial/administrative burden or fundamental alteration

Organizations That Fall Under ADA’s Scope?

In general, the ADA applies to public entities such as government agencies and public schools. However, it still covers private businesses that are considered “public accommodations.” If you’re not sure if you fall under the categories, check the list below.

• Employers with 15 or more employees: Must provide equal employment opportunities and reasonable accommodations for workers with disabilities.
• State and local government agencies: Must ensure public programs, services, websites, and communications are accessible.
• Private businesses open to the public: Including retail stores, restaurants, hotels, banks, gyms, and entertainment venues.
• Healthcare providers: Hospitals, clinics, medical offices, and healthcare systems must provide accessible services and communication.
• Educational institutions: Public schools, colleges, universities, and many private education providers.
• Transportation services: Public transit systems and private transportation providers serving the public.
• Nonprofit organizations serving the public: Charities, community groups, and service organizations.
• Companies offering digital services or online content: Websites, streaming platforms, online courses, and video creators are expected to provide accessible media (captions, subtitles, transcripts).
• Telecommunications providers: Must offer accessible communication services for individuals with hearing or speech disabilities.

Penalties For Failure To Meet ADA Requirements

If your business falls into one of these categories, it’s in your best interest to meet ADA compliance requirements. Otherwise, you would be facing potential penalties like:

• Civil lawsuits
• Court orders to fix accessibility issues
• Attorney’s fees
• DOJ enforcement actions for systemic or serious violations
• Civil penalties of between $75,000 to $150,000 for each count
• Settlement agreements
• Reputational damage from public complaints, negative press

How Ditto Can Help You Meet ADA Compliance?

Ditto Transcript is the premier choice for transcription, subtitling, and captioning. We’ve been in the industry for over a decade, and we know what regulators (and our clients) need. Here’s how we can help you meet and exceed ADA requirements.

Accurate captions

Ditto Transcripts offers some of the highest accuracy rates in the industry – over 99% for transcripts, captions, and subtitles. This supports the ADA’s effective communication standard by making speech content available in a readable form.

Improved accessibility for video content

Ditto offers captions, subtitles, time-stamping, and detailed transcripts for video. We can help organizations make video content more accessible across multiple formats rather than relying solely on audio. That gives users more than one way to follow the content.

Supports audio description workflows

Transcripts can help identify places where important visual context is not explained in the audio. That makes them useful as a starting point for creating audio descriptions where needed.

Alternative access format

A full transcript gives users another way to access the content without needing to watch or listen to the video in real time. This can be helpful for people with hearing, cognitive, or processing disabilities who benefit from reading at their own pace.

Consistency and scalability

Using transcripts across a video library makes it easier to consistently apply accessibility measures. This can help organizations manage compliance more efficiently over time.

Searchable and navigable content

Time-stamped transcripts and caption files can make video content easier to search, review, and navigate. This improves usability for teams managing large media libraries and for users who need quicker access to specific information.

ADA-Compliant Transcription at Affordable Prices

Make sure your compliance doesn’t come with undue financial or administrative burdens with our affordable, tiered rates that meet your every need.

Ditto Transcription Is Your Partner For Regulatory Requirements

Ditto Transcripts has been a leader in the industry since 2010, providing accurate transcription services to a wide range of agencies, companies, and individuals across Colorado and coast to coast. We’re HIPAA– and CJIS-compliant, too, so you know you’re in good hands.

We don’t settle for less. You get human transcribers, human project managers, and human customer service experts at all points in your transcription project.

We’ll prioritize your transcription requirements when you need them, with turnaround times as fast as 24 hours. 

So, let’s get your video and audio transcribed. Call us at (720) 287-3710 today!

We’re open between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. (Mountain Time) Monday through Friday.