• Success Criterion 1.2.3
  • Conformance level A

Video’s Visual-Only Content Never Described in Any Format

1.2.3 — Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)

Scenario

Setting

A community forum's discussion thread

What’s wrong

Video with important visual-only information (on-screen text, charts, demonstrations, scene changes) and no audio description and no descriptive transcript.

Example

Here's a real case from a community forum's discussion thread: video with important visual-only information (on-screen text, charts, demonstrations, scene changes) and no audio description and no descriptive transcript.

Why it matters

Blind and low-vision viewers who hear dialogue but miss unique visual information. In this case (a community forum's discussion thread), they are left guessing what the media actually shows.

How to test

Play the video with eyes closed for 30 seconds: if you lose track of what's happening because visual information isn't described, it fails.

How to fix

An audio description or a full descriptive transcript covering all important visual information must be provided.

Outcome

Once corrected, a community forum's discussion thread lets them hear or read what the media conveys.

Who is affected

Blind and low-vision viewers who hear dialogue but miss unique visual information.

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