“Accessibility, from our perspective, is really the ability to access content — more widely, government access, access to every piece of information produced for residents and stakeholders,” said Daniel Kerr, technical lead for video solutions at Granicus, during a recent webinar, “Streaming strategies to improve accessibility.”
That framing shifts accessibility away from being a narrow compliance exercise toward a broader vision of civic inclusion. True accessibility is about meeting people where they are, in the formats they prefer, and with the tools that make engagement possible.
With new technologies and upcoming Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) deadlines, local governments now have affordable ways to make meetings accessible for all before being at risk of fines or other penalties.
Below, we’ll explore three strategies — bilingual broadcasting, automated captioning, and advanced searchability — and why they matter for communities. Make sure to watch the webinar in full for more details about these strategies.
1. Bilingual broadcasting for diverse communities
According to Kerr, accessibility extends far beyond ramps and restrooms. For government video, it means acknowledging the linguistic diversity in communities. More than 68 million people in the U.S. speak a language other than English at home. In some large metro areas, Spanish is spoken by up to 50% of residents — and in specific border communities, the number is even higher. Vietnamese and other languages are also on the rise in fast-growing jurisdictions.
“Many communities have residents who speak two or more languages at home,” Kerr said. “Making content accessible in those languages helps bridge engagement gaps and ensures government is meeting people where they are.”
Historically, cities relied on staff members or contractors for live translation, which was costly and time-consuming. New technologies have changed that equation. Multi-channel encoders now make it possible to stream real-time audio translations directly alongside the original broadcast, so viewers can choose the language they prefer without leaving the city’s website.
Cities like San Antonio have recognized the impact of this approach, broadcasting dozens of meetings per year in both English and Spanish. This not only meets the needs of residents who are not fluent in English but also respects the preferences of those who simply feel more comfortable consuming information in another language. The result is stronger community participation, reduced barriers to engagement, and greater trust.
2. Automated captioning for inclusivity
Captioning has long been one of the most critical — and challenging — elements of accessibility. Roughly 18% of Americans have a disability covered by the ADA. Beyond those groups, captions benefit people watching in noisy environments or who prefer to read along. As Kerr pointed out, his own children rely on captions to watch YouTube videos in places like libraries where sound isn’t an option.
Despite the clear demand, many governments historically found captioning out of reach. Hiring human captioners can cost $150 per hour or more, and the logistical burden of staffing long council meetings makes the expense even greater. That price tag was prohibitive for smaller jurisdictions.
But the technology has rapidly evolved. Automated captioning systems, Kerr explained, have gone from “comical” inaccuracy a few years ago to being “almost on par with humans” today. In fact, he noted that automated systems can sometimes outperform human captioners, especially when trained on local vocabulary like street names or officials’ names.
“Everybody’s known it’s been required, but people have worked hard at it, and the reality has been that it was very expensive,” Kerr said. “Automated captioning bridges that gap.”
This new generation of tools allows governments to provide closed captions on both live streams and archived videos. Beyond compliance with ADA and WCAG requirements, captions unlock additional value: They can be repurposed into meeting transcripts, used for drafting official minutes, and fed into search systems that make video content easier to navigate. That dual benefit — compliance plus efficiency — makes captioning one of the most impactful accessibility upgrades available today.
3. Advanced searchability to enhance user experience
Advanced searchability to enhance user experience
Public expectations for digital services have changed dramatically. As Kerr noted, “It used to be that Netflix only came on DVD. Now, Netflix is everywhere, on every device you can imagine, and likewise, so is every other content producer out there.” At the same time, residents don’t want to dig through clunky websites or watch hours of footage just to find the one topic that matters to them. Every extra click reduces engagement.
Kerr emphasized that this reflects a fundamental difference between how governments view meeting content and how residents experience it. For staff, meetings are comprehensive records of city business. For residents, they’re often about one issue buried inside hours of proceedings. Making those issues easy to find improves transparency, saves time, and respects residents’ busy lives.
That’s where advanced search tools like Sound Search come in. By combining captioning with speech recognition, Sound Search allows residents to type in a keyword — like “budget amendment” or “water bill” — and jump directly to the relevant portion of a meeting. Instead of consuming an entire two-hour recording, they can zero in on the issue that matters most to them in seconds.
“Helping users find just what they’re interested in without subjecting them to watching everything is key,” Kerr said. “Searching is faster than listening — especially when you’re talking about many hours of meetings.”
Searchability tools also help governments themselves. Clerks and staff can use searchable transcripts to quickly locate moments needed for minutes or follow-up, reducing administrative workload and speeding up responses to public inquiries.
Why accessibility matters now
Throughout the webinar, Kerr stressed that accessibility should be viewed not as a checkbox for compliance but as a strategy for engagement. Preferences around how people consume content are shifting quickly. Younger generations expect mobile-friendly video with captions. Multilingual communities expect equitable access to information in their preferred languages. And everyone hopes to find content as easily as they do on Netflix, YouTube, or their smart TVs.
“The public’s expectations are changing,” Kerr noted. “If we’re going halfway by making content available, why not go the whole way and make it accessible?”
Governments that invest in these solutions are not only protecting themselves from legal risk but also demonstrating a commitment to inclusion, trust, and transparency. By adopting bilingual broadcasting, automated captioning, and advanced searchability, local agencies can transform public meetings from long, hard-to-navigate recordings into true tools for civic engagement.
See these strategies in action. Watch the full session — “Streaming Strategies to Improve Accessibility” — and learn how your agency can take the next step.
