Use this guidance when you create video content for us
Use this guidance when you create video content for us. It explains what you must do to meet our standards for project management, accessibility, branding and legal compliance. If your video does not meet these requirements, we will ask you to fix it before we accept it.
This guidance applies to external suppliers who produce video content for us. This includes agencies, freelancers, videographers, photographers and any other third party creating content on our behalf.
We will agree review stages in the brief. Include these in your schedule and quote. Also include the number of revision rounds in your quote, explaining what counts as a revision.
Use this default review process unless we agree a different one:
You must confirm:
All video that we publish online needs to be accessible. Make sure that you are meeting the relevant criteria in WCAG 2.2 at AA standard, as this is our legal obligation. W3C, who create these standards, have produced the Making Audio and Video Media Accessible guide.
Use clear language, avoid jargon and explain any acronyms. Speakers should talk clearly and at a natural pace. Leave space for captions and, where needed, spoken description of visual information.
Captions are essential for people who are deaf or have hearing loss. They also help people in noisy or silent settings and people who process written information better than audio. Captions must be synchronised with the audio and must include important non-speech audio information.
For our content, caption text must mirror the spoken words. Do not paraphrase. You may remove filler sounds such as “um” and “er” where this improves readability. Captions must stay in sync with speech. This matters for viewers who lip-read and for viewers who use captions as an aid to hearing.
Include relevant non-dialogue audio and sound effects in captions. Describe sounds, not actions, and write them in capitals inside square brackets. For example: [A DOOR SLAMS] or [♪ BLUES HARMONICA ♪].
Do not rely on automated captions. Always check and correct if necessary, following the GOV.UK style guide for spelling, grammar and tone.
Use these house standards for open captions:
Provide a transcript for all final videos. This will help users scan, annotate and find content.
If the video contains important visual information that is not explained in the main audio, you must also provide description of that information. The best option is to build description into the script and spoken narration. If that is not possible, provide audio description or a descriptive transcript.
Any information shown on screen as text, charts, labels or contributor names should also be conveyed in speech where possible.
Keep on-screen text brief and readable. Use clear fonts, strong contrast and a size that remains legible on mobile.
On-screen text should reinforce what is being spoken. Do not show the user different written information while someone is speaking. We should not expect viewers to understand two different pieces of information simultaneously.
Do not make a viewer rely on a visual cue alone. If you refer to something by colour, position or appearance, also describe it in words.
Do not use flashing content that could trigger seizures.
Use high-quality microphones and record in a setting with as little background noise as possible. Keep background music low enough for speech to remain clear (at least 20db less than speech).
All videos should include the council logo at the end of the film. Apply for a logo pack and licence
Please use the following spec:
If you need to include multiple partner logos, they should be equally sized and spaced.
Use colours from our council palette in any graphics, transitions or text backgrounds. You can find these in the logo pack.
Get written consent before using identifiable images, video or audio of people. Council employees or councillors will also need to give consent if they feature in the film. If you are acting on our behalf, you must use our media consent form and make clear that people should contact us if they later wish to withdraw consent.
People under 18 need consent from a parent or guardian. If a person does not have capacity to consent, a nominated representative must act on their behalf, and the decision must be in the person’s best interests. Take extra care with children and vulnerable adults. Do not reveal sensitive locations or include children’s names unless absolutely necessary.
If filming at public events, display clear filming notices and make the camera operator easy to identify. For ticketed or invite-only events, consent can be built into booking or entry arrangements.
If you process personal data for us as part of production, you must keep it secure and may need a data processing agreement. Report any suspected data breach to the commissioning officer at once.
You must have the right to use every video clip, still, graphic, music track and sound effect in the final film. This permission should extend to producing video content on our behalf. Keep a record of the source, licence and any usage restrictions. If a licence requires attribution, include it in the agreed way.
Do not take content from search engines or social platforms without permission. If you commission content for us, agree the usage rights in writing at the start, including any limits on duration, channels or third-party use.
Use stock content carefully. It must be representative of our communities, inclusive and not use stereotypes. We do not use AI-generated images or video to represent people or places in Torbay.
You may need to supply different output versions for different publishing channels. The commissioning officer will let you know what versions they need before you provide a quote. All versions should be supplied as .mp4 unless otherwise agreed.
Supply a social media version for each agreed format. We include open (burnt-on) captions, rather than rely on platform auto-captioning. This is because auto-caption quality varies and that Facebook Reels do not support auto-captioning in the same way as other posts.
If we ask for multiple social cuts, provide separate exports for each agreed ratio and duration.
We use closed captions in YouTube. These are better for users, as they can turn them on or off and change the text style or size.
For YouTube versions, use these minimum requirements:
If the video contains essential visual information that is not already described in the main soundtrack, provide a descriptive transcript and discuss with us whether an audio-described version is needed.
At handover, supply:
We will check the final content for accuracy, clarity, accessibility, style, permissions, licences and consent. We may reject and return any video that does not meet these requirements. We will tell you what to fix and ask you to resupply it.