- Success Criterion 1.2.2
- Conformance level A
Captions That Drift Out of Sync With the Audio
1.2.2 — Captions (Prerecorded)
Scenario
Setting
An email client's compose window
What’s wrong
Captions not synchronized (drift, appear seconds late/early).
Example
An email client's compose window runs into this exact issue: captions not synchronized (drift, appear seconds late/early).
Why it matters
Deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, and anyone watching video without sound. In this case (an email client's compose window), they are left guessing what the media actually shows.
How to test
Play the video and read along with the captions: if captions appear noticeably before or after the matching audio, it fails.
How to fix
Synchronized captions must be provided covering all dialogue, speaker identification, and important sounds.
Outcome
Once corrected, an email client's compose window lets them hear or read what the media conveys.
Who is affected
Deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, and anyone watching video without sound.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Captions That Skip Dialogue or Important Sound Effects
- Video-as-Text-Alternative Never Labeled or Captioned
- Video With Extra Content the Captions Never Include
- Prerecorded Video Published With No Captions Whatsoever
- YouTube Auto-Captions Never Corrected for Accuracy
- Burned-In Captions Too Small or Low-Contrast to Read