• Success Criterion 1.2.2
  • Conformance level A
  • W3C reference F74

Video-as-Text-Alternative Never Labeled or Captioned

1.2.2 — Captions (Prerecorded)

Scenario

Setting

A project-management tool's task board

What’s wrong

A video that is meant as an alternative to on-page text isn't labeled as such, so it also isn't captioned and users don't know the text version exists.

Example 

<article class="help-topic">
  <h1>Automations Between Boards</h1>
  <!-- This video is meant to replace a written help article, but is
       neither labeled as such nor captioned -->
  <video src="/help/automations-overview.mp4" controls></video>
</article>

Why it matters

A deaf project manager searching the help center for how automations trigger finds only a silent-to-them video, with no text article and no captions telling them what's said.

How to test

Find any video positioned as an alternative to page text: confirm it's labeled as such and check whether it's also captioned as required.

How to fix

If a video is meant to be the whole text alternative, label it as such and caption it, since it now carries all the content.

<article class="help-topic">
  <h1>Automations Between Boards</h1>
  <p><em>Video guide (captioned) replacing the written walkthrough:</em></p>
  <video src="/help/automations-overview.mp4" controls>
    <track kind="captions" src="/help/automations-overview.vtt" srclang="en" label="English">
  </video>
</article>

Outcome

A deaf project manager reads the captions and sets up the same automation as a hearing colleague would.

Who is affected

Deaf and hard-of-hearing users get zero access to this help topic, since there is no text alternative and the video itself carries no captions.

Learn more

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