Dear WCAG Plus Forum community members,
After exploring the requirements for alternatives for audio-only/video-only content (1.2.1) and captions (1.2.2), let's now tackle another fundamental criterion for synchronized media accessibility: Success Criterion 1.2.3: Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded). This is a Level A requirement, meaning it's essential to ensure that important visual information is accessible.
What does Criterion 1.2.3 require?
This criterion states that for all prerecorded synchronized media content (i.e., videos with significant audio, like most films, documentaries, or educational videos), either an audio description or a complete media alternative must be provided.
The goal is to make essential visual information accessible that is not already conveyed through the main audio or captions.
- Audio Description: This is additional narration that describes significant visual information (actions, scene changes, on-screen text, facial expressions, etc.) that is not explained by the video's original dialogue or narration. This narration is inserted into natural pauses in the existing audio.
- Media Alternative: This refers to a comprehensive text alternative to the synchronized video content. This alternative must include all dialogue (like a transcript) AND a full description of all relevant visual information, including significant sounds, actions, body language, on-screen text, and any other visual element crucial for understanding the overall message. It's essentially a detailed "script" of the video, encompassing both audio and visuals.
This criterion is primarily vital for blind or low vision individuals. Without an audio description or a textual alternative explaining what is visually happening, a significant part (or the entirety) of a video's message could be completely lost. Imagine a tutorial where instructions are shown on screen but not verbally described – without 1.2.3, it would be inaccessible.
Practical Implementation: Choosing and Providing the Alternative
The choice between Audio Description and Media Alternative often depends on the content's complexity and available resources:
1. Audio Description:
- When needed: For videos with many visual actions, frequent scene changes, graphs, tables, or on-screen text that isn't read aloud.
- How it works: A narrator describes important visual elements during pauses in the original dialogue.
- Considerations: Requires professional execution for optimal quality (timing, clarity, conciseness). If natural pauses are insufficient for a complete description, "extended audio description" might be necessary (which is a Level AA requirement, Criterion 1.2.5). For Level A, the focus is on standard audio description.
- When an option: Often used as a fallback alternative or when producing audio description is too complex or costly. It can be an effective solution for shorter videos or those with fewer visual dynamics.
- Content: Must be an accessible document (e.g., HTML page or accessible PDF) that fully reproduces the video experience through text.
- Additional Benefits: Besides accessibility for the visually impaired, it offers benefits for those with cognitive disabilities, learning difficulties, or who prefer to read content in a quiet or noisy environment.
- Confusing with Subtitles/Captions: Captions (1.2.2) translate audio into text. Audio description (1.2.3) translates video (what is visual) into audio or text. They are complementary.
- Incomplete Descriptions: Not describing all crucial visual elements necessary for understanding the message.
- Lack of Synchronization: For audio descriptions, if they are poorly inserted or not at the right moment, they can cause confusion.
- Relying Solely on Dialogue: Assuming that everything needed is conveyed in the dialogue. Often, the "what" is happening in the video is visual.
We invite the community to share their experiences:
- Have you used specific services or tools to create audio descriptions?
- What are your strategies for identifying "essential" visual information to describe?
- Can you share examples of well-made audio descriptions or effective media alternatives you've encountered?
Warm regards,
Michele (wcgadmfrm)
WCAG Plus Forum Team