- 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
<audio src="podcast.mp3"></audio>Why it matters
Deaf people who need transcripts of audio-only media, and blind people who need alternatives to silent 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 complete, accurate transcript (or an equivalent audio track for video-only media) must be provided and linked right next to the media.
<audio src="podcast.mp3"></audio><a href="podcast-transcript.html">Read the transcript</a>A text transcript gives Deaf users the same content the audio carries, with no video/audio dependency.
Outcome
On an online clothing store's product listing page, this barrier is gone for deaf people who need transcripts of audio-only media — they get the same result as anyone else here.
Who is affected
Deaf people who need transcripts of audio-only media, and blind people who need alternatives to silent video.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Audio Description File Left as a Filename, Not Real Text
- Long Description That Doesn’t Match What the Audio Actually Says
- Podcast Episode Published With No Transcript at All
- Transcript Missing Speaker Names or Key Background Sounds
- Auto-Generated Transcript Too Inaccurate to Trust
- Silent Demo Video With No Transcript or Narration