Accessible Video for City Councils & Local Government
Turnkey accessible video for city council meetings, social media content, and public communications. Closed captions, searchable transcripts, audio descriptions, meeting documents (agendas, packets, and minutes), AI summaries, and shareable hosted links for any video in any format. Embed on any city website page. Works alongside your existing streaming and video hosting platform.
Hosted accessible video you can embed on any page
Add our hosted video player directly to your meetings page. One embed code gives your residents a fully accessible video experience with closed captions, searchable transcripts, audio descriptions, translations, agendas and packets, and AI meeting recaps and action items.
This is a live example of our hosted video player. It includes closed captions, a searchable interactive transcript from your city council chamber meetings, and audio description in standard/extended formats.
Closed captions
Every meeting video includes synchronized closed captions with speaker identification. Residents toggle captions on or off. Captions identify each speaker ("Mayor Johnson:", "Council Member Smith:") and include non-speech sounds like [applause] and [gavel].
Searchable transcripts
Residents can search a full text transcript to find the exact agenda item, motion, or discussion they need. Click any line and the video jumps to that moment. No more scrubbing through a 3-hour recording to find a 2-minute discussion.
Audio descriptions
When meetings include slides, charts, maps, or other visual materials, audio descriptions narrate the key visual information for residents who are blind or have low vision. Budget presentations, planning sessions, and zoning maps are all described.
Meeting documents
Public meeting video is only half the record. Attach agendas, packets, and minutes next to each recording. Upload PDF or Word files or link to documents already on Granicus, CivicPlus, or Finalsite. No duplicate uploads.
Simple embed code
Add a single iframe embed code to your city website, CMS, or meetings page. No plugins, no platform migration, no IT project. If your web team can paste HTML, they can deploy accessible video in minutes.
Agendas, packets, and minutes alongside the recording
Residents should not have to open three browser tabs to follow a council meeting. Attach or link your agenda, board packet, and minutes in the same embed as captioned video and a searchable transcript.
Upload or link
Upload PDF or Word files, or paste a URL from your existing CMS. No migration required.
Labeled document types
Agenda, packet, minutes, highlights, and custom documents appear as clear buttons in the player and on showcase cards.
Clerk-friendly controls
Hide documents until they are approved for publication. Staff manage uploads from the same dashboard as transcripts and captions.
Video showcases for your meetings and community events
Beyond individual video embeds, you can embed an entire collection of accessible recordings as a searchable showcase on your city website. Residents browse, search, and watch meetings, community events, and public programs on a single page without leaving your site.
Live example: a searchable collection of Colonial Days reenactment videos with closed captions, audio descriptions, and full-text transcript search across the showcase.
Search across all meetings
Staff and residents type a keyword and find every meeting where that topic was discussed, across all council sessions, commission meetings, and public hearings.
Organized by meeting type
Group videos by city council, planning commission, parks board, budget committee, or any other body. Each collection gets its own embed or page.
Downloadable transcripts
Residents and staff can download full transcripts as text, Word, or PDF. Useful for meeting minutes preparation, public records requests, and archival.
Live captioning for council meetings and public hearings
Real-time captions for your live-streamed meetings. Residents watching remotely see captions as the meeting happens. In-chamber attendees access captions on their own device via a QR code or shared link.
AI-powered
Fully automated real-time captions. No scheduling required. 95-98% accuracy.
Best for: work sessions, informal meetings, internal briefings
AI with human editing
AI captioning with a live human editor who corrects proper names, local terminology, and technical terms in real time. 97-99% accuracy.
Best for: council meetings, commission meetings, public hearings
Professional CART
A professional human captioner transcribes the meeting in real time. 99%+ accuracy for the highest-stakes proceedings.
Best for: formal public hearings with accommodation requests, high-profile sessions
Software-only live captioning. No caption encoder to buy or rent.
A common question from cities and counties: how much do your caption encoders cost? We do not supply hardware. Recap is a software service that works with the AV encoder and streaming setup your team already runs in council chambers.
Use your existing AV gear
Most municipalities already operate an encoder, switcher, or streaming appliance in chambers. Recap connects to that workflow. You do not need a separate caption encoder from us.
One dedicated RTMP stream
Live captioning requires a dedicated RTMP audio stream from your existing encoder. Our technical engineers provide setup guides so the feed works with your current hardware and streaming path.
No hardware license fees
Many live captioning vendors charge thousands of dollars for dedicated caption encoder hardware, licenses, or annual rentals. Recap pricing is software-only. No encoder line item on your quote.
Often compared to Cablecast and MediaScribe: Those platforms frequently bundle caption encoder hardware or charge separate encoder license and rental fees on top of captioning service. Recap sits alongside your existing streaming stack. Send us an RTMP feed from the encoder you already operate, and we return a live caption stream your residents can view on your website or via QR code.
Need help wiring the RTMP feed? Our engineers walk your AV and IT staff through setup during onboarding. See the live captioning overview or contact training and support for technical guidance.
Works alongside your existing platform
You do not need to replace your streaming vendor, website host, or CMS. Recap works with whatever platform your city already uses.
Streaming & video platforms
- Government streaming platforms (Granicus, Swagit, and others)
- YouTube and YouTube Live
- Vimeo
- Zoom recordings
- Any platform that produces an MP4 or stream URL
City website platforms
- CivicPlus
- WordPress and Drupal
- Squarespace, Wix, and other website builders
- Custom government CMS systems
- Any platform that supports embed codes or iframes
How it works: Upload your meeting video to Recap (or connect your existing platform). We generate captions, a searchable transcript, and audio descriptions. You get an embed code that goes on your city website. Your residents see an accessible video player with all features built in, including AI meeting recaps and action items.
Live captioning: Send a dedicated RTMP audio stream from your existing chamber encoder (no Recap hardware required), or capture audio directly from in-room microphones. We return a live caption feed you can embed on your website for residents to view, or display in-room via a dedicated display monitor.
Challenges facing city clerks and government IT staff
Slow vendor response
Your current streaming or website vendor has been slow to offer accessibility solutions, or what they have quoted costs significantly more than expected. The compliance deadline is approaching and you need a solution now.
No staff capacity
City clerks and IT teams are already stretched. Manually captioning hours of meeting recordings, managing public records, and handling website updates leaves no bandwidth for a new accessibility project.
Tight municipal budgets
Government budgets are allocated well in advance. An unexpected accessibility expense for video captioning and audio descriptions needs to be cost-effective to fit within existing budget lines.
No live captioning solution
Your current platform may handle recorded video but has no solution for providing real-time captions during live council meetings and public hearings, which WCAG 1.2.4 requires for streamed content.
Unexpected encoder hardware costs
Vendors quoting live captioning often add dedicated caption encoder hardware, license fees, or annual rentals that can run thousands of dollars per year on top of captioning service. Your chamber already has an AV encoder. You should not need to buy another box.
Get set up in 2 to 3 days
Not months. We understand government timelines and compliance deadlines.
Connect and configure
We set up your account, build a custom vocabulary with your city's proper names and terminology, and integrate with your video source.
Dry run with a real meeting
We run live captioning during a technical dry-run or an actual council or commission meeting to verify compatibility with your live stream setup. Your staff gets hands-on training managing the caption feed in real conditions.
Process your videos
Upload meeting recordings. Captions, transcripts, and audio descriptions are generated automatically. Staff review and correct in a browser-based editor.
Embed on your site
Paste the embed code on your city website. Residents see an accessible player with captions, searchable transcript, meeting documents, and audio description. Done.
Built for government proceedings
Speaker identification
Captions identify who is speaking: Mayor, Council Members, public commenters, city attorney, city manager. Transcripts are formatted like official proceedings, not a wall of undifferentiated text.
Custom local vocabulary
We build a dictionary with your council member names, department heads, street names, local landmarks, district names, and ordinance numbers so the AI gets them right from day one.
Public records ready
Transcripts are downloadable in multiple formats (PDF, Word, plain text) suitable for public records requests. Metadata includes timestamps, speaker identification, and session information for archival compliance.
Meeting documents
Attach agendas, packets, and minutes next to each meeting recording. Link documents already hosted on your city site or upload once and expose them in the same embed as video and transcripts.
Multilingual communities
Serve diverse constituencies with captioning in 100+ languages. Translate English meeting captions into Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, or any language spoken in your community.
Affordable for municipal budgets
Onboarding, integration, and training included at no charge
Your entire staff can use the platform
Hosted accessible videos, captions, and transcripts stored at no extra cost
Software-only live captioning over RTMP. No encoder purchase, license, or rental line items
Compared to traditional captioning and transcription services
Pay for the content you process, with automatic volume discounts
Government-grade security with annual independent audits
ADA Title II compliance deadlines
The DOJ's final rule requires state and local government web content, including video, to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. That means closed captions, live captions, audio descriptions, and transcripts for all your video content.
April 26, 2027
Cities, counties, and government entities serving 50,000 or more residents
April 26, 2028
Cities, counties, and government entities serving fewer than 50,000 residents
Video types we handle for local government
City council meetings
Regular sessions, special sessions, work sessions, and executive sessions that are recorded and published.
Commission meetings
Planning commissions, parks and recreation boards, utility commissions, housing authorities, and advisory committees.
Public hearings
Zoning hearings, budget hearings, public comment periods, and community forums where residents testify.
Public service announcements
Community updates, safety alerts, program announcements, and informational videos on your website and social media channels.
Budget presentations
Annual budget reviews, capital improvement plans, and financial presentations with charts, graphs, and visual data that require audio description.
Social media videos
Short-form and long-form video for Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X, and other platforms. Vertical, horizontal, square, and any other format. Each gets a shareable accessible link.
Give residents a searchable meeting archive
Beyond accessibility compliance, cities are using searchable transcripts and AI summaries to increase civic engagement and demonstrate transparency. Residents can find what matters to them without watching hours of video.
Full-text search across all meetings
Residents search "parking permit" or "bike lane" and find every time the topic was discussed, across months or years of meetings.
AI summaries with key decisions
Automatic executive summaries highlight votes, action items, and public comment themes so residents can get informed in minutes.
Podcast recaps on Spotify and Apple
Audio summaries published automatically after every meeting. Residents subscribe and stay informed on their commute.
Keyword alerts and newsletters
Residents set alerts for topics they care about and receive weekly digests. Proactive civic engagement without staff effort.
Learn more about our civic transparency portal for cities and residents:
Visit citytranscripts.comReady to make your meeting videos accessible?
Schedule a 30-minute call. We will show you the hosted player, walk through live captioning, and give you a cost estimate on the call.
Social media video made accessible
Your city posts videos to Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and X every week. Under ADA Title II, those videos need captions, audio descriptions, and transcripts. Upload any social media video and get a shareable accessible link your team can post alongside the original.
Shareable hosted links
Every video gets a hosted URL with a fully accessible player. Add the link to your social media post caption or comments. Residents who need captions, audio descriptions, or a transcript click through to a complete accessible experience.
Any format, any aspect ratio
Vertical 9:16 Reels, square 1:1 posts, standard 16:9 landscape, 4:3 webcam footage, and non-standard cropped clips. If your phone or camera recorded it, we process it. The hosted player adapts automatically to the video's native aspect ratio.
AI summaries and key topics
Every video gets an AI-generated summary highlighting key announcements, dates, and action items. Residents who want the takeaways without watching the full video get them in seconds. Useful for PSAs, policy updates, and event promotions.
Minutes, not days
Your communications team works on tight timelines. A video uploaded to Recap has captions, a transcript, audio descriptions, and a shareable link within minutes. Post the video and the accessible link at the same time instead of waiting days for a vendor delivery.