Video Requirements for Vendors/Creators

Guidance on this webpage supplements other MDH contract and video information.

State law requires state agencies to comply with federal standards for accessibility. Video vendors and/or creators must follow all branding guidelines and accessibility requirements.

Accessibility resources

Accessibility Information for Vendors and Partners
Web Accessibility Initiative, Captions/Titles

Captions

Captions are required and are added by video creators. Captions must follow standard accessibility practices and can be open or closed.

Closed captions are turned on and off by individual viewers or presenters. They are recommended for videos hosted on platforms where individual viewers or presenters can turn captions on and off.

Open captions are burned into a video and are visible to all viewers; they cannot be turned off. They are required for videos that are hosted on platforms where individual viewers or presenters are unable to manually turn captions on and off.

Caption guidance:

• Closed captions require an SRT or VTT caption file in the video’s spoken language. The text must match what is said in the video and must include audio notes and descriptions of essential music and other sounds that enrich the video’s meaning and message; nonessential audio descriptions are encouraged. Insert information into the file about the format and position of captions.
• Open captions require (and closed captions should have) a TXT file that matches the video’s spoken language, without timecodes or other information, for publishing as a PDF and other file types.
• Glyphs, italics, vertical text, etc., are prohibited, except for languages with essential special characters or in other highly nuanced situations.
• Captions should be centered horizontally at the bottom of the screen. Their position must be consistent throughout the video, except when they would overlap text within the video. Only then may captions move to a different position, as described in the text/graphic placement section below.
• One line of caption text is best, but two lines are allowed. Limit a caption line to no more than 42 characters when possible.
• Transitions from one caption to the next should coordinate with the video action and/or audio. Each caption must end with standard punctuation (comma, period, etc.).
• Each caption must be visible on-screen long enough for a viewer to read, but typically no longer than seven seconds.

• Captions must comply with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) for contrast.

  • Do not rely solely on an outline or a shadow around text to create contrast if the video background is variable. Place light text in a dark caption box or dark text in a light text box, for example black or dark blue text on white, or white or yellow text on black.
  • Avoid using color combinations of red and green, red and black, and blue and yellow. These combinations are hard for people with color vision deficiency to distinguish.

  Branding

  Follow all MDH logo, color, and font branding guidelines at Branding. Nonbranded videos will not be published.

  Text/graphic placement

  Most video editing software can display 80% and 90% boundary lines in their timelines like the example below from Adobe Premiere Pro (percentages added for clarity). Place vital text and graphics inside the 80% line to ensure they are visible and uncropped on all screens.

  

  Video

  Baseline specifications:
  FORMAT: MP4
  CODEC: H.264
  RESOLUTION: 1080p HD  
  AUDIO:  AAC, Stereo
  TARGET BITRATE: 15-30 Mbps, VBT, 1 pass (Premiere Pro or other professional level applications only)

  Aspect ratio
  The video export aspect ratio depends on the platform hosting the video. An aspect ratio of 16:9 is recommended for horizontal formats; a ratio of 1080 1:1 is recommended for square formats.

  Check social media websites listed below for their individual platform specifications for aspect ratios, file size, video duration, and other information. 

  Limit the duration of social media videos to 60 seconds or less; the duration of videos hosted on YouTube may vary depending on their intended use.

  Facebook: Facebook Aps and Services, Video Requirements
  LinkedIn: LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, Video Ads 
  Instagram: Instagram Help Center, Reels 
  YouTube: YouTube Help, Video and audio formatting specifications