• Success Criterion 1.2.1
  • Conformance level A
  • W3C reference F67

Long Description That Doesn’t Match What the Audio Actually Says

1.2.1 — Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded)

Scenario

Setting

A nonprofit's donation form

What’s wrong

The long description provided for an image doesn't actually convey the same information as the image itself.

Example 

<!-- Actual image is a bar chart of donation tiers -->
<img src="impact-chart.png" alt="Chart" aria-describedby="chart-desc">
<p id="chart-desc" class="visually-hidden">
  Photo of volunteers smiling at a food bank distribution event.
</p>

Why it matters

A donor deciding how much to give needs the chart's actual numbers, and a description of a smiling-volunteers photo tells them nothing about what $25 or $100 accomplishes.

How to test

Open the linked long description for the audio/video-only media and compare it point-by-point against the recording: gaps mean it fails.

How to fix

A long description has to convey the same information as the image, not just occupy the same slot in the markup.

<img src="impact-chart.png" alt="Bar chart" aria-describedby="chart-desc">
<p id="chart-desc" class="visually-hidden">
  Bar chart: $25 provides one week of groceries, $50 provides two weeks,
  $100 covers a family for a month.
</p>

Outcome

A blind donor hears the actual dollar breakdown and picks the $50 tier with confidence.

Who is affected

Screen reader users and screen magnifier users who rely on the long description get content that doesn't match the chart driving the donation amounts.

Learn more

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