accessibility-guidelines

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Audio description for pre-recorded videos

Does your site show pre-recorded videos?
→ Provide an audio description of what happens on screen.
(If you don’t, it’s good to provide at least a text equivalent).

Video content (like instructional videos, ads or interviews) must have audio description.

On this page:

Requirements
More info

Requirements

Video that includes important visual information has audio description.

Common mistakes

A video includes important visual information but does not have audio description;
The audio description does not describe important information communicated visually in the video;
The audio description is not synchronised to complement the audio content of the video.

Why?

This ensures that information communicated visually in the video is available to people who cannot see it.

Official wording in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded): An alternative for time-based media or audio description of the prerecorded video content is provided for synchronized media, except when the media is a media alternative for text and is clearly labeled as such. (Level A)

1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded): Audio description is provided for all prerecorded video content in synchronized media. (Level AA)

See the W3C’s detailed explanation of this guideline with techniques and examples.

Note: pre-recorded videos without sound are covered somewhere else in the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines:

1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded): For prerecorded audio-only and prerecorded video-only media, the following are true, except when the audio or video is a media alternative for text and is clearly labeled as such: (Level A)

Prerecorded Audio-only: An alternative for time-based media is provided that presents equivalent information for prerecorded audio-only content.

Prerecorded Video-only: Either an alternative for time-based media or an audio track is provided that presents equivalent information for prerecorded video-only content.

More info

Sources

Useful resources

What is audio description?

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