Level AA · WCAG 2.0
1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded)
At AA, the text alternative is no longer enough on its own: pre-recorded video needs an actual audio description track.
Partly automated Some failures are detectable, others need judgement.
How it fails in practice
A corporate video with a transcript on the page but no described version, where every on-screen figure and caption goes unmentioned in the soundtrack.
How to fix it
Add a described audio track, or produce the video with description built in — a narration that names what is on screen needs no second track.
At a glance
- Level
- Level AA — the level EN 301 549 requires, and therefore the level the BFSG and the EAA are measured against.
- Principle
- Perceivable
- Guideline
- 1.2 Time-based Media
- Added in
- WCAG 2.0
- EN 301 549
- 9.1.2.5
- 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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