Level A · WCAG 2.0
1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative
Pre-recorded video needs either an audio description of what is shown, or a text alternative that tells the same story.
Partly automated Some failures are detectable, others need judgement.
How it fails in practice
A tutorial where the narrator says “click here, then here” while the screen shows where — useless to anybody not watching.
How to fix it
Either write a full text alternative that stands on its own, or record a description track. Scripting the narration so it names what it points at removes most of the problem before it exists.
At a glance
- Level
- Level A — the minimum. Failing one of these usually makes something impossible rather than merely hard.
- Principle
- Perceivable
- Guideline
- 1.2 Time-based Media
- Added in
- WCAG 2.0
- EN 301 549
- 9.1.2.3
- Automated check
- Partly automated
Partly automated
How far an automated check gets
A tool finds some failures here and cannot see the rest. A clean automated result means the checks that exist found nothing — not that the criterion is met. This is the gap that makes a green scan look like an accessible site, and it is where the keyboard agent, the agents still in development and a human reviewer do the remaining work.
Related criteria
Other criteria under the same guideline.
Further reading
-
Audio description
Narrated description of important visual content in a video for blind and partially sighted people (WCAG 1.2.3, 1.2.5).
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