Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) - Success Criterion 1.2.1 (Level A)

Question

Does your site provide transcripts for audio-only files, and descriptions for what is happening in a video-only file?

Why is this important?

When video content, with no audio, is presented to someone who is blind, they cannot see it. Likewise, when audio-only content is presented to someone who is deaf or has a severe hearing impairment, they cannot hear it. These people are excluded from this type of content within the site or application.

Whom does it benefit?

Example 1

As a person who is blind and cannot see images displayed on the screen,
I want to use a speech device to describe the images on the screen
so that I can listen to alternative text to access the information being visually conveyed.

Example 2

As a person who has severe hearing impairment,
I want to use a transcript or closed captioning
so that I can read audio-based information that I can’t hear.

What should you do?

For prerecorded audio-only and video-only content, provide the same information in a text transcript. Another alternative solution for video-only content is to add an audio track with sufficient detail for a person to be able to understand what is happening in the video.

How do you do it?

For audio-only, create a text transcript file of the content. Provide a link to the transcript near the audio file player. For video-only, record an audio-description track describing what is happening visually in the video. Make the audio track available to those who need it.

Need technical guidance?

Technical guidance is available for implementing this Success Criterion at the Understanding Success Criterion 1.2.1: Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) page.