• Success Criterion 1.2.2
  • Conformance level A

Subtitle Track Used Instead of a Real Captions Track

1.2.2 — Captions (Prerecorded)

Scenario

Setting

A customer-support live-chat widget

What’s wrong

track element present but mislabeled kind="subtitles" when captions are needed and non-speech info is omitted.

Example 

<video src="/support/password-reset.mp4" controls>
  <!-- Marked as subtitles, and the vtt omits the notification chime
       cue that signals "check your email now" -->
  <track kind="subtitles" src="/support/password-reset.vtt" srclang="en" label="English">
</video>

Why it matters

A deaf customer resetting their password misses the notification-chime cue meant to tell them the email just arrived, since the subtitle track only carries dialogue.

How to test

Inspect the track element's kind attribute in DevTools: kind="subtitles" implies translation only — if non-speech sound info is needed, this alone fails.

How to fix

Use kind="captions" for same-language tracks meant for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers, and include sound effects, not just dialogue.

<video src="/support/password-reset.mp4" controls>
  <track kind="captions" src="/support/password-reset.vtt" srclang="en" label="English">
</video>
<!-- Updated .vtt adds "[Notification chime plays]" at the relevant
     timestamp -->

Outcome

A deaf customer notices the chime caption and checks their inbox at the right moment to finish the reset.

Who is affected

Deaf and hard-of-hearing users, and screen reader users whose browsers list this track as a translation aid rather than accessibility captions, don't get the cue they need.

Learn more

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