• Success Criterion 1.2.5
  • Conformance level AA

Video With Visual-Only Info and No Audio Description Track

1.2.5 — Audio Description (Prerecorded)

Scenario

Setting

A crowdfunding platform's campaign page

What’s wrong

No audio description track/version at all for video with important visual-only content.

Example 

<video src="/campaign/assembly-demo.mp4" controls></video>
<!-- Silent background music track only; hands assembling the product
     are shown with no narration and no description track -->

Why it matters

A blind backer watching this campaign video gets background music and nothing else, missing the entire assembly process the campaign is trying to sell them on.

How to test

Check for an audio-description track/version at all on any video with important visual-only content: if none exists, it fails.

How to fix

A video with meaningful visual content and no narration needs an audio description track added, even one that started as music-only.

<video src="/campaign/assembly-demo.mp4" controls>
  <track kind="descriptions" src="/campaign/assembly-demo-ad.vtt" srclang="en" label="Audio description">
</video>
<!-- Added description: "A hand slots the wooden legs into the base,
     then flips the table upright." -->

Outcome

A blind backer hears the assembly steps described and understands exactly what they'd be building at home.

Who is affected

Blind and low-vision backers get no meaningful information from a video that relies entirely on visual demonstration set to music instead of narration.

Learn more

Related scenarios