• Success Criterion 1.2.5
  • Conformance level AA

Talking-Head Video Wrongly Assumed to Need No Description

1.2.5 — Audio Description (Prerecorded)

Scenario

Setting

A ride-hailing app's trip booking screen

What’s wrong

Claiming "no audio description needed" for videos that do contain meaningful visual info (talking-head exemption misapplied when slides/demos appear).

Example 

<video src="/help/surge-pricing-explained.mp4" controls></video>
<!-- Team skipped audio description, assuming a standard talking-head
     video. At 0:45 the video cuts to a static slide showing a price
     multiplier chart (1.0x to 2.5x by demand tier) never mentioned in
     the narration -->

Why it matters

A blind rider trying to understand why their fare tripled hears general talk about high demand but never learns the actual multiplier numbers shown only on a silent slide.

How to test

Watch the video and judge whether it has meaningful visual-only content (slides, demos, actions): if so and no AD/transcript exists because the team assumed none was needed, it fails.

How to fix

The talking-head exemption only applies when nothing meaningful appears on screen; the moment slides or demos show up, description is needed.

<video src="/help/surge-pricing-explained.mp4" controls>
  <track kind="descriptions" src="/help/surge-pricing-explained-ad.vtt" srclang="en" label="Audio description">
</video>
<!-- Added cue at 0:45: "Slide shows a chart: fares multiply from 1.0x
     at normal demand up to 2.5x during peak demand." -->

Outcome

A blind rider learns the exact multiplier range and understands why their fare changed.

Who is affected

Blind and low-vision riders lose access to the specific pricing figures, since the video was wrongly assumed not to need description just because it starts as a talking head.

Learn more

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