They want captions, alt text, a transcript. Here’s the extra.

The quote shipped the work as-is. They asked for captions after.

A 2026 thread still reads “can you caption the video we already signed off,” “the images need alt before legal will publish,” or “drop a transcript of the session.” None of those is a wiki. None is a Spanish reskin. None is the native .fig. None is you lecturing on a call. The cut, the page, the audio already left playable for whoever could already use it. Now they want a .vtt, alt strings, or a transcript stacked on that paid number. Price that clock from the hub floor — income target, billable-week count, whatever tax slice you entered over there stays over there. This card will not copy that slice, and it is not a 50-state tax engine. $360 is 4 times 90 with a dollar sign so you can read it. Need euros or pesos on the invoice? Switch currency on the hub. If $90 is still a guess, begin on how to set a freelance rate.

Accessibility extra = hours you type × hourly floor. Time the work from the first caption line or alt string to the file they can attach. Four hours is 4. A long film or a gallery of stills is 8. A second pass — alt after they asked for captions, or a transcript of the same cut — is extra hours you type — not $2.50 a minute, not 15% of the original quote, not a WCAG mill. This card will not mint “accessibility is 15% of the project,” a free caption file, a per-minute caption rate, or a certification stamp.

Worked USD: 4h × $90 = $360

Preset: 4 caption / alt / transcript hours. Floor $90. Second-pass hours 0. Accessibility extra: 4 × $90 = $360.

That $360 is the captions, the alt, or the transcript. It stacks on a number that already paid for the work as shipped. It is not prose an inheritor reads when Slack is quiet. It is not a locale they remembered later. It is not a layered project file. It is not a live demo. Put the dollars in writing before you open the caption file. Do not wait for “accessibility was in the original fee.” This page never tucked captions, alt, or a transcript inside that fee.

Third preset: 8 hours at the same $90. Extra: 8 × $90 = $720. You typed the 8. This page did not. A longer caption pass — every cut, every still’s alt, a full transcript — is still hours × floor, still billed because they asked after the work as shipped, still not 15% of anything, still not a WCAG mill, and still not a per-minute caption rate.

A second pass is extra hours, not a minute price

Second preset: same 4 caption hours, same $90. They also want alt on the stills, or a transcript of the same film. You type 2 extra hours for that second pass. Billed hours: 4 + 2 = 6. Accessibility extra: 6 × $90 = $540. Caption / alt / transcript labor is $360. Second-pass labor is $180.

Those second-pass hours did not mint a $2.50/minute line. There is no caption-by-the-minute grid here, and there is no “15% of the job for WCAG” this page will run. You named extra hours. The card multiplied hours × floor. If they said “also a transcript” and extra hours stay 0, extra hours stay 0 — this page will not cook a slice of the original quote so the math looks official, and it will not cook a per-minute ticket. Type the hours that second pass actually costs, or leave that box at 0.

This is not a runbook, a second language, a zip, or a Zoom

Written steps so the next person can run the thing without you live on the documentation card. Worked example there: 6h × $90 = $540. A runbook is prose a stranger follows when you are offline. Captions make the film usable for people who could not use the shipped cut. Writing an SOP does not produce a .vtt. Writing a .vtt does not leave a wiki. If they want both, put writing hours there and caption / alt / transcript hours here.

Retyping the same screens in another language — hours you spend on that locale × floor — is the translation card. 8h × $90 = $720. Not 30% of the project, not a per-word mill. A Spanish site is not a caption file in the language they already bought. A transcript in English is not a French deck. If they want both, put second-language hours there and caption / alt / transcript hours here.

Handing over the native Figma / PSD after they already paid for the PDF, MP4, or live page lives on the source-files card. Package time × floor (worked 2h × $90 = $180). The zip lets them poke layers. Alt lets a screen reader describe the stills. Those are not one product. Want both? Package hours there, caption / alt hours here.

A live walkthrough after delivery so their people can run the thing while you speak lives on the training-handoff card. Worked example there: 3h × $90 = $270. Extra heads in the room become extra hours you name, not a seat price. Talking on a call does not caption the film. A caption file does not replace a walkthrough. Want both? Session hours there, caption / alt / transcript hours here.

A press PDF with bleeds, crop marks, and a CMYK pack after a quote that was screen lives on the print-ready card. Worked 3h × $90 = $270. Not 20% of the project, not a per-page mill. The shop bill they forwarded still lives on expense-markup. A .vtt is not a crop-mark PDF. A crop-mark PDF is not alt. Want both? Caption / alt / transcript hours here, press hours there.

A 9:16 Stories/Reels cut of a 16:9 or square master is not a caption file. Extra aspect ratios = hours you type × floor on the social-cuts card. Worked 4h × $90 = $360. Not $50 a cut. Not 20% of the video. Recrop does not write a .vtt. A .vtt does not punch in a face for Reels. Want both? Cutdown hours there, caption / alt / transcript hours here.

Paste the line before you open the caption file

Name the caption / alt / transcript hours. Name the floor. Name $360 (or whatever the card shows). Name that it sits on a quote that shipped the work as-is. If second-pass hours are on, name those too. Copy from this card so the dollars in the email match the dollars on screen.

• 4h × $90. Accessibility extra: 4 hours I type for captions / alt / transcript × $90.00/hr = $360.00. The quote was the work as shipped. Captions, alt, or a transcript after that ship is hours × floor — not 15% of the project, not a WCAG mill, and not a per-minute caption rate. Please confirm $360.00 before I open the caption file.
• Same 4h, 2h second pass. Accessibility extra: 4 hours I type for captions / alt / transcript + 2 extra hours I typed for a second pass = 6 hours × $90.00/hr = $540.00. A second pass is extra hours, not a per-minute caption rate. That is not 15% of the project. Please confirm $540.00 before I open the caption file.
• 8h captions / alt. Accessibility extra: 8 hours I type for captions / alt / transcript × $90.00/hr = $720.00. The quote was the work as shipped. Captions, alt, or a transcript after that ship is hours × floor — not 15% of the project, not a WCAG mill, and not a per-minute caption rate. Please confirm $720.00 before I open the caption file.

Leave out guilt and “everyone knows accessibility is 15%.” That speech turns a caption file into a fight. This page has no official accessibility percent, no WCAG mill, and no per-minute caption rate. No confirmed fee, no caption file opened. A written runbook belongs on documentation. A second language belongs on translation. Native working files belong on source-files. A live Zoom after delivery belongs on training-handoff. If the $90 floor moved, rebuild it on the hub, then name this caption / alt / transcript extra.

Planning math, not a WCAG certification

Planning numbers only — not legal, tax, or collections advice, and not a WCAG certification. No mandated accessibility percent, no statute that prices captions, no 15% slice of a shipped job, no per-minute caption mill, no WCAG mill, and no 50-state tax engine. Keep the contract you already signed. Need enforceable accessibility language? Hire counsel where you work before the caption file opens. Filling this card does not draft that language and does not certify the work.

You type caption / alt / transcript hours, the hourly floor, and optional second-pass hours (not a per-minute dollar). You get billed hours, the accessibility extra, and one sentence to paste. Dollars here are labeled USD; live currency plus any tax slice you chose stay on the hub.

Rate calculator Written runbook, not captions Second language, not a transcript Press PDF, not captions 9:16 cutdowns, not captions Set the hourly floor

Billable weeks changed? Rebuild the floor on the hub first, then price captions, alt, or a transcript. This card names an after-ship accessibility ask — hours you type × floor, a second pass as extra hours, not 15% of the job, not a WCAG mill, not a per-minute caption rate. Written docs an inheritor reads without you: documentation. Same work in another language: translation. Native files after a bought delivery: source-files. A live session so their people can run it: training-handoff. Floor still a guess? Start on how to set a freelance rate.

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