Multimedia and Videos

Media and videos are forms of communication that combine different content formats such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single presentation. Multimedia should be used as a content element, not as a design element. Examples of multimedia as content include:

  • Sound files for instructional purposes
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Presentations, e.g., Prezi

All multimedia should relate to the content on the website, offer supplemental information and portray a positive image of Baltimore County. Videos should be embedded, whenever possible, unless the video is in an accordion, or there are multiple videos on a page, in which case they should be linked. 

ACCESSIBILITY

All videos posted to any Baltimore County website or associated vendor website or application must include captions or a transcript for sound files and podcasts in order to meet WCAG 2.0 accessibility(link is external).

CAPTIONING AND TRANSCRIPTS

Videos uploaded to Baltimore County's official YouTube channel will utilize YouTube auto captions, unless the video is expected to be included in a County marketing program. If the video fits the needs for a County marketing program, much like a vanity URL, then Web Services will send the video for formal captioning through our captioning service and upload to YouTube.

Any video posted for public consumption, but not on the County's official YouTube channel will be sent to our captioning service and uploaded after the captions have been completed. E.g. MinuteTraq.

Sound files and podcasts will be sent to our captioning service for transcription.

Web Services is not responsible for reviewing the accuracy of YouTube captions or returned files from our captioning service. The requesting agency is responsible for confirming accuracy upon receipt or posting. If there is an error, then the requesting agency may contact webrequest@baltimorecountymd.gov, and Web Services will either adjust the YouTube captions or work with our vendor to get a corrected file.

TURNAROUND TIME FOR REQUESTS

Videos requested to be uploaded to YouTube without formal captioning need to be submitted to Web Services at least one business day in advance of the expected post date.

Formal captioning and transcript requests, whether the video or sound file is being posted to YouTube or to another approved application, need to be submitted to Web Services at least three days in advance of the expected post date.

Please review the max file size upload policy.