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 who have hearing impairments.
Examples
Better audio alternative
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 impairments.
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 impairments 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
Descriptive label for live video feed: "Live video feed showing downtown Boone, North Carolina"
Poor live feed labels
No descriptive label is provided for the live video feed.