Audio alternative

What to do

A transcript that presents the dialogue and descriptions of background sounds, etc. that are part of the story should be provided immediately following audio content.

Why it matters

A transcript provides an accessible alternative presentation of audio content for people with hearing disabilities.

Examples

Better audio alternative

Transcript

Poor audio alternative

No transcript is provided for this audio file.

Video alternative

What to do

A transcript that presents all the content and descriptions of scenery, actions, expressions, etc. that are part of the presentation should be provided immediately following video content.

Why it matters

A transcript presents the information of video content, including descriptions of scenery, actions, expressions, etc., in an accessible alternative format for people who have visual disabilities.

Examples

Better video alternative

Poor video alternative

No transcript is provided for this video file.

Closed captions

What to do

Captions should be provided for audio and video content. Captions include important sounds, as opposed to subtitles which only provide text of the dialogue.

Why it matters

Captions provide a way for people who have hearing disabilities to be able to view the dialogue and sounds of multimedia content.

Examples

Better captions

Captions for this video can be enabled by clicking the CC icon in the player controls.

Poor captions

No captions are available on this video.

Sound on request

What to do

Sound should only play on user request.

Why it matters

The use of assistive technologies like a screen reader can be difficult if there are also sounds playing from web content.

Examples

Better sound on request

This audio file allows the user to start its playback by clicking the play icon.

Poor sound on request

An audio file that starts automatically does not allow the user to choose when its playback begins.

Descriptive labels

What to do

Live audio or video feeds should include descriptive labels.

Why it matters

Providing a short label for audio or video feeds ensures that a user can determine what the content is, even if they cannot access it.

Examples

Better live feed labels

screen shot of king street live webcam

Descriptive label for live video feed: "Live video feed showing downtown Boone, North Carolina"

Poor live feed labels

screen shot of king street live webcam

No descriptive label is provided for the live video feed.

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