• Success Criterion 1.2.1
  • Conformance level A

Transcript Missing Speaker Names or Key Background Sounds

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

Scenario

Setting

A ride-hailing app's trip booking screen

What’s wrong

Transcript exists but omits speaker identification or meaningful non-speech audio needed to understand.

Example 

<video src="/videos/rider-safety-check.mp4" controls></video>
<div class="transcript">
  <!-- Two speakers appear (narrator and driver); transcript merges
       them with no labels and omits the arrival horn sound -->
  <p>Make sure you check the license plate before getting in. Say hello
  and confirm the destination. Have a safe trip.</p>
</div>

Why it matters

A deaf rider reading the transcript can't tell which lines are the driver's greeting versus the safety-tip narrator, and misses that a car horn in the clip means the ride has arrived.

How to test

Read the transcript against the audio: check it names each speaker and describes meaningful non-speech sounds (e.g., a doorbell, applause) that carry information.

How to fix

A transcript needs speaker labels and bracketed sound cues whenever meaning depends on who's talking or what's audible.

<video src="/videos/rider-safety-check.mp4" controls></video>
<div class="transcript">
  <p><strong>Narrator:</strong> Check the license plate before getting in.</p>
  <p>[Car horn honks twice, signaling the driver has arrived.]</p>
  <p><strong>Driver:</strong> Hi, heading to Fifth and Main?</p>
</div>

Outcome

A deaf rider reads the transcript and knows exactly when the driver has pulled up, without ever hearing the horn.

Who is affected

Deaf and hard-of-hearing riders following the transcript lose track of who's speaking and miss the arrival-horn cue that hearing riders pick up automatically.

Learn more

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