YouTube Accessibility Plan (Canada)

YouTube is committed to ensuring that our platform is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. We strive to provide an experience that allows all users to create, discover, and watch content in a way that meets their individual needs.

This Accessibility Plan, developed in accordance with the requirements of the Accessible Canada Act and its regulations (collectively, the "ACA"), outlines our ongoing commitment to identifying, removing, and preventing barriers across our policies, programs, practices, and services in Canada.

We aim to make our services accessible and foster an inclusive digital environment. This plan addresses the priority areas outlined in the ACA that are relevant to our services.

How YouTube takes into account the principles set out in Section 6 of the ACA

The principles outlined in Section 6 of the Accessible Canada Act are foundational to YouTube's approach to accessibility. This plan has been prepared with these principles at its core:

1. Dignity: All persons must be treated with dignity regardless of their disabilities.

• Our Approach: We aim to design YouTube so that users with disabilities can access content and features independently. Features like customizable captions and screen reader compatibility are designed to provide an equivalent and dignified experience. Our feedback mechanisms are designed to be respectful and responsive.

2. Equal opportunity: All persons must have the same opportunity to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have regardless of their disabilities.

• Our approach: YouTube is a platform for learning, entertainment, community building, and expression. We strive to ensure that persons with disabilities have the same opportunities to consume content, create and share their own stories, and participate in the YouTube community. This includes making our creator tools more accessible and providing creators with tools to make their content more accessible.

3. Barrier-free access: All persons must have barrier-free access to full and equal participation in society, regardless of their disabilities.

• Our approach: The identification, removal, and prevention of technical, content, and usability barriers on the YouTube platform are primary objectives. We aim for an experience where disabilities do not hinder full and equal participation in accessing information, entertainment, and social connection via YouTube.

4. Meaningful options and choice: All persons must have meaningful options and be free to make their own choices, with support if they desire, regardless of their disabilities.

• Our approach: YouTube aims to provide users with disabilities with meaningful choices in how they access and interact with content. This is reflected in features like adjustable playback speeds, customizable caption appearance, and support for various assistive technologies. We are committed to providing clear information about accessibility features so users can make informed choices. When searching for content, users can filter search results to show only videos with captions available. Videos with captions also display a "[cc]" badge under the video summary in search results.

5. Taking disabilities, interaction methods, and intersecting forms of marginalization into account: Laws, policies, programs, services and structures must take into account the disabilities of persons, the different ways that persons interact with their environments and the multiple and intersecting forms of marginalization and discrimination faced by persons.

• Our approach: We recognize that disability is diverse and can intersect with other forms of marginalization. Our user research and consultation processes aim to include individuals with a wide spectrum of disabilities and diverse backgrounds to understand their varied needs and interaction methods when we design our products. This is why we provide tools such as keyboard shortcuts and voice control. Our design considerations aim to be flexible and accommodate these different interaction methods. We are mindful that barriers can disproportionately affect individuals facing multiple forms of discrimination.

6. Involvement of persons with disabilities: Persons with disabilities must be involved in the development and design of laws, policies, programs, services and structures.

• Our approach: Direct involvement of persons with disabilities is a cornerstone of our accessibility strategy. This involvement occurs through user research, usability testing, feedback channels, and partnerships with disability organizations.

7. Highest level of accessibility: The development and revision of accessibility standards and the making of regulations must be done with the objective of achieving the highest level of accessibility for persons with disabilities.

• Our approach: While adhering to established standards like, YouTube aims to go beyond minimum compliance and strive for accessibility. This involves continuous improvement, investing in innovative accessibility solutions (including AI-driven enhancements), and proactively seeking ways to make our platform more inclusive. We see accessibility not just as a legal requirement but as a core component of creating a better product for all users.

Consultation with people with disabilities

YouTube recognizes that direct consultation with persons with disabilities is fundamental to creating a truly accessible platform. We are committed to ongoing and meaningful engagement.

Methods of consultation for this plan and ongoing processes:

• Accessibility user research program:
  • YouTube has an established user research program that recruits and engages individuals with diverse disabilities (including visual, auditory, motor, cognitive, and learning disabilities) for usability testing, interviews, and feedback sessions on existing and new features. Insights from these ongoing interactions have informed the priorities and strategies outlined in this plan.
• Partnerships with disability organizations:
  • We collaborate with and seek input from disability advocacy groups and organizations. These partnerships provide valuable insights into the needs of specific disability communities and help shape our accessibility roadmap. For the development of this plan, we have drawn upon existing relationships and feedback gathered through these channels.
• Accessibility feedback channels:
  • Contact support: We maintain dedicated feedback channels (e.g. specific email addresses) where users can report accessibility issues or suggest improvements.
  • In-app feedback: Within the app or the website, where users encounter issues they can flag the issue using the provided tools. For example, while watching a video users can report caption issues directly from the video they are watching via a "Report" button and selecting "Captions issue."
• Internal Employee Resource Groups (ERGs):
  • Google has Employee Resource Groups focused on disability inclusion. Members of these ERGs, including employees with disabilities, provide internal perspectives and feedback on product accessibility, which has informed our understanding of user needs.
• Beta testing programs:
  • We invite users with disabilities to participate in beta testing for new features to gather accessibility feedback before public launch.

The input received through these various channels improves our understanding of the lived experiences of our users with disabilities, identifying key areas where barriers exist or may emerge, and prioritizing the actions outlined in this accessibility plan.

Give YouTube feedback

YouTube welcomes all feedback, including feedback about the delivery of our goods, services, or facilities to people with disabilities. YouTube also welcomes feedback regarding its feedback process and this plan.

Contact disability support

Individuals can contact the Google Disability Support team to provide feedback. The team is available through Email, Chat, Phone, Be My Eyes and ASL channels, with details available at g.co/disabilitysupport.

Feedback Forms can also be made available upon request in formats that support accessibility.

All feedback, including complaints, will be directed to the Disability Support Team. Individuals can expect to receive a response, if requested, within 10 business days.

How our feedback process supports accessibility

YouTube will take the following steps to ensure our existing feedback process supports accessibility for people with disabilities upon request:

1. Conduct an assessment of the feedback process to ensure feedback mechanisms support accessibility for persons with disabilities;
2. As needed, consult with the person making the request or providing the feedback as to the suitability of feedback mechanisms available;
3. As needed, provide alternative formats or communication supports for individuals to provide feedback;
4. Notify the public about the availability of formats that support accessibility and communications supports with respect to the feedback process by posting a notice at our Disability Support Team’s page.

Policies, programs, practices and services in relation to the identification, removal, and prevention of barriers

YouTube is dedicated to identifying and removing barriers to accessibility issues for persons with disabilities. This applies across all platform facets and services in Canada.

Current policies, programs, practices, and services:

Viewer features:

• Closed captions and subtitles: Support for creator-uploaded and auto-generated captions, with user customization options (font, size, color, background). Lessons in our Creator Academy encourage creators to caption their videos to reach a wider audience. We provide creators with caption-related analytics via Creator Studio. We make available a list of third-party services that can assist creators with creating their own captions.
• Audio descriptions: Support for videos with audio descriptions, including direct support via multitrack audio.
• Keyboard navigation: The YouTube website and applications can be navigated effectively using a keyboard.
• Screen reader compatibility: Our user interface is compatible with major screen reader software, including ChromeVox.
• Playback speed controls: Users can adjust playback speed to better process audio and video content.
• Volume control: Granular control over video volume.
• Transcripts: Availability of interactive transcripts for many videos.
• Dark theme: Reducing eye strain and improving readability for some users.
• Accessibility settings: Centralized settings for users to customize their accessibility experience.
• Creator tools:
  • Video editing features:
    • Features encouraging and enabling creators to add captions, subtitles, and audio descriptions to their content.
    • Audio features: We’ve launched a feature to millions of creators enabling them to provide multiple audio tracks on a video, which enables a mechanism for audio descriptions.
  • Creator education: Educational resources for creators on making their content more accessible.

Employee training & awareness:

• Internal training programs for designers, engineers, product managers, and content support teams on accessibility best practices and standards.
• Promoting an internal culture of accessibility awareness and inclusive design.

Research & development:

• Investing in research and development of new accessibility features and technologies, including AI-powered solutions to improve automatic captioning.

Feedback mechanisms:

• Dedicated channels for users to report accessibility issues and provide feedback.

Identification of barriers

• User feedback analysis: Collecting and analyzing accessibility-related feedback received through customer support channels, social media, accessibility forums, and direct user research.
• Consultation with persons with disabilities: Engaging directly with users with a wide range of disabilities to understand their experiences and identify pain points.
• Internal reporting: Encouraging employees to identify and report potential accessibility barriers they encounter or foresee.
• Monitoring technological advancements: Staying abreast of new assistive technologies and accessibility best practices to proactively identify potential future barriers or opportunities for improvement.
• Accessibility testing: New product releases undergo rigorous accessibility testing and require formal sign-off. Additionally, we conduct quarterly regression testing to identify and address emerging issues.

Removal of existing barriers & prevention of new barriers

• Prioritization framework: Developing a framework for prioritizing the removal of identified barriers based on impact, feasibility, user feedback, and ACA requirements.
• Accessible design & development lifecycle:
  • Integrating accessibility considerations into all stages of product design, development, and testing.
  • Requiring accessibility reviews and sign-offs at key development milestones.
  • Providing designers and developers with clear accessibility guidelines, tools, and training.
• Content accessibility promotion:
  • Continuously improving tools and incentives for creators to produce accessible content (e.g., accurate captions, audio descriptions, accessible video structure).
  • Developing and promoting best practice guides and resources for accessible content creation.
• Documentation and support: Ensuring that help documentation, tutorials, and customer support services are accessible and provide information on using YouTube's accessibility features.
• Regular updates and maintenance: Committing to ongoing maintenance and updates to ensure existing accessibility features function correctly and that new features are designed with accessibility in mind. This includes addressing accessibility regressions in a timely manner.
• AI for accessibility: Investing in and responsibly deploying AI technologies to enhance accessibility, such as improving the quality of automatic captions and exploring AI-driven audio descriptions.

Formats that support accessibility and communication support

YouTube is committed to meeting the communication needs of people with disabilities.

When requested, YouTube provides publicly available information and communication materials in accessible formats with needed communication support. YouTube delivers this service in a timely manner and free of charge.

This includes publicly available information about our goods, services and facilities, as well as publicly available emergency information. YouTube will consult with people with disabilities to determine their information and communication needs.

How YouTube’s communications support accessibility

YouTube will take the following steps to make sure all publicly available information supports accessibility upon request:

1. Review formats that support accessibility and communication supports currently available at the Company;
2. Review the current process in place for requesting formats that support accessibility and communication supports;
3. As needed and where practical, update the current process for requesting formats that support accessibility and communication supports;
4. As needed and where practical, create additional formats that support accessibility and communication supports for publicly available information;
5. Develop a process for responding to, approving or declining a request;
6. Notify the public by posting a notice google.com/accessibility that, in accordance with ACA, formats that support accessibility or communications support may be made available on request.