Audio descriptions available (prerecorded)
Normative Text
Audio descriptions are available in prerecorded video for visual content needed to understand the media.
- WCAG 3 needs to specify how to handle video content with audio that does not include gaps to insert audio descriptions. Two possible solutions are providing an exception that allows the content author(s) to use descriptive transcripts instead or requiring content authors to provide an extended audio description.
Except when
- the video content is an alternative for text and clearly labelled as such.
Tests
This section is non-normative.
Procedure
For prerecorded video:
- Check that audio description is available for visual content needed to understand the media
Expected results
- #1 is true.
Tests
This content needs to be written.
Key Terms
- audio
live or recorded sound signal
- audio description
narration added to the soundtrack to describe important visual details that cannot be understood from the main soundtrack alone
For audiovisual media, audio description provides information about actions, characters, scene changes, on-screen text, and other visual content.
Audio description is also sometimes called “video description”, “described video”, “visual description”, or “descriptive narration”.
In standard audio description, narration is added during existing pauses in dialogue. See also extended audio description.
If all important visual information is already provided in the main audio track, no additional audio description track is necessary.
- content
information, sensory experience and interactions conveyed
person or persons responsible for the content presented, including word choice, formatting, images, video, audio, and other elements
- descriptive transcript
a text version of the speech and non-speech audio information and visual information needed to understand the content
- extended audio description
audio description that is added to audiovisual media by pausing the video to allow for additional time to fit in the audio description
This technique is only used when the sense of the video would be lost without the additional audio description and the pauses between dialogue or narration are too short.
- video
the technology of moving or sequenced pictures or images
Video can be made up of animated or photographic images, or both.