Accessibility

Accessibility at Amara

At Amara, accessibility is central to our mission. We believe that everyone deserves equal access to information. And we are dedicated to supporting an inclusive digital environment, where everyone, regardless of ability, can access and benefit from our services. As a provider of captioning and subtitling software, we have a unique role and responsibility to ensure that our software is accessible, and in doing so, empower the creation of accessible content.

Software Accessibility

In line with the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG), we are committed to ensuring that our software is accessible and user-friendly. We are striving to be compatible with various assistive technologies including assistive devices like keyboard controls, screen readers and other modes of interaction. Furthermore, we aim to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA standards, in an effort to make our digital content accessible to a wider audience. We view our commitment to accessibility as an ongoing journey and we continue to strive for improvements.

Empowering Accessible Content Creation

Our software doesn’t just aim to be accessible, it serves to make video and audio content accessible to all. By providing a robust set of tools, we enable users to create clear, synchronized, and easy-to-read captions and subtitles. In this way, our software actively contributes to increasing the accessibility of digital content.

Review and Feedback

We commit to regular reviews and continual enhancements of our software’s accessibility features, following the principles of both ATAG and WCAG 2.1, Level AA. We welcome and value your feedback in this ongoing journey, and we encourage you to report any accessibility issues you may encounter by emailing support@amara.org. Each report is treated seriously, with our team investigating each issue.
Our  journey towards greater accessibility is continuous and we appreciate your patience, support, and feedback as we strive to make the digital world more accessible for everyone.

Accessible Communication Standards

Thinking about users, members, partners, and clients as people rather than just numbers in a database shows that we care. By making our emails accessible to everyone, we’re speaking directly to their needs, and showing that we want to listen and help. 

Over 26% of people living in the US have a disability, and this number only goes higher at the global level. 

Not everyone is a native English speaker. People use screen readers and translation tools on a regular basis, and their use increases every year. 

Keeping to standard sentence structure and avoiding confusing or contradictory phrases helps even more with neurodivergent people (between 30% and 40% of the population is thought to be neurodiverse).

Readable: 

Stick to writing at an eighth-grade reading level, which will allow for around 85% of the general population to easily understand your content. This also helps when someone uses translation tools.

Consistent:

Use the same terms to describe the same things. If we say “sign up”, we don’t change it to “subscribe” two paragraphs later.

Well-Defined:

If there’s a chance someone won’t know what a word or phrase means, take the time to define it or insert a link to a relevant resource.

Easily Digestible:

Write short paragraphs and break up blocks of text with headers and bullet points. This makes content both easier to read and skim. And always keep in mind how accessibility tools work to help people with disabilities, and do your best to offer them a fair interaction.

Screen Readers

  • Pause for things like periods, semi-colons, and commas.
  • Try to pronounce acronyms but otherwise will spell out the letters.
  • Announce the page title when loading a page or email.
  • Announce headings and the heading level (“heading level 2.”)
  • Read subject lines up to 41 characters.

Translation and Localization

  • Time zones – be mindful where the person you’re emailing is located (not the organization’s HQ). Most people check their emails in the morning, but rarely reply. Better reply rates come 10am to 12pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. However, with the rise of remote work, Saturdays seem to get a better response rate from outreach emails.
  • Write in active voice. The active voice is the preferred method of content creation because it takes the guesswork out, and it makes translation easier and more accurate. 
  • Use standard sentence structure – subject/verb/object.
  • Avoid acronyms when possible and spell out full words.
  • Avoid cultural specific references and use inclusive language.