• Success Criterion 1.2.1
  • Conformance level A

Transcript That Exists but Isn’t Linked Near the Media

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

Scenario

Setting

An online clothing store's product listing page

What’s wrong

Transcript not programmatically discoverable near the media (buried on another page with no link adjacent).

Example 

<div class="product-video">
  <video src="/videos/fit-guide-dress-204.mp4" controls></video>
</div>
<!-- Transcript exists only at /accessibility-statement, unlinked here -->

Why it matters

A shopper deciding on a dress size has no clue a transcript exists three clicks away on the accessibility statement page, so they guess their size or skip the video.

How to test

Search the page and its immediate surroundings for a transcript link: if it exists only on an unlinked or hard-to-find separate page, it fails.

How to fix

A transcript link needs to sit right next to the media it belongs to, not exist somewhere else on the site.

<div class="product-video">
  <video src="/videos/fit-guide-dress-204.mp4" controls></video>
  <a href="/transcripts/fit-guide-dress-204.html">Read the fit guide transcript</a>
</div>

Outcome

A deaf shopper taps the transcript link right under the video and picks the correct dress size on the first order.

Who is affected

Deaf shoppers scanning the product page for fit details never discover the transcript, since nothing on the page points to it.

Learn more

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