ACT-Rules Community

Video element auditory content has accessible alternative

  • Rule Type:composite
  • Rule Id: eac66b
  • Last modified: Mar 21, 2022
  • Accessibility Requirements Mapping:
    • 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) (Level A)
      • Learn More about 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded)
      • Required for conformance to WCAG 2.0 and later on level A and higher.
      • Outcome mapping:
        • Any failed outcomes: success criterion is not satisfied.
        • All passed outcomes: success criterion needs further testing.
        • An inapplicable outcome: success criterion needs further testing.
    • G87: Providing closed captions
      • Learn More about technique G87
      • Not required to conformance to any W3C accessibility recommendation.
      • Outcome mapping:
        • Any failed outcomes: technique is not satisfied.
        • All passed outcomes: technique needs further testing.
        • An inapplicable outcome: technique needs further testing.
    • G93: Providing open (always visible) captions
      • Learn More about technique G93
      • Not required to conformance to any W3C accessibility recommendation.
      • Outcome mapping:
        • Any failed outcomes: technique is not satisfied.
        • All passed outcomes: technique needs further testing.
        • An inapplicable outcome: technique needs further testing.
    • H95: Using the track element to provide captions
      • Learn More about technique H95
      • Not required to conformance to any W3C accessibility recommendation.
      • Outcome mapping:
        • Any failed outcomes: technique is not satisfied.
        • All passed outcomes: technique needs further testing.
        • An inapplicable outcome: technique needs further testing.
  • Input Rules:

Description

This rule checks that video elements have an alternative for information conveyed through audio.

Applicability

This rule applies to every non-streaming video element that is visible, where the video contains audio.

Expectation

For each test target, the outcome of at least one of the following rules is passed:

Assumptions

  • This rule assumes that the video element is used to play synchronized media (video with audio), and that there is a mechanism to start the media.
  • This rule assumes that the language of each test target can be correctly determined (either programmatically or by analyzing the content), and sufficiently understood.

Accessibility Support

There are no major accessibility support issues known for this rule.

Background

Bibliography

Test Cases

Passed

Passed Example 1

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A video element with an associated track element that contains captions for all the audio.

<html lang="en">
	<video src="/test-assets/perspective-video/perspective-video.mp4" controls>
		<track src="/test-assets/perspective-video/perspective-caption.vtt" kind="captions" />
	</video>
</html>

Passed Example 2

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A video element that describes some of the text on the same page. The text on the page labels the video as an alternative.

<html lang="en">
	<p>
		Web Accessibility Perspectives: Keyboard Accessibility. Not being able to use your computer because your mouse
		doesn't work, is frustrating. Many people use only the keyboard to navigate websites. Either through preference or
		circumstance. This is solved by keyboard compatibility. Keyboard compatibility is described in WCAG. See the video
		below to watch the same information again in video form.
	</p>
	<video src="/test-assets/perspective-video/perspective-video.mp4" controls></video>
</html>

Failed

Failed Example 1

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A video element without any form of captions.

<html lang="en">
	<video src="/test-assets/perspective-video/perspective-video.mp4" controls></video>
</html>

Failed Example 2

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A video element that describes some of the text on the same page. The video contains more information than the text does.

<html lang="en">
	<p>
		Not being able to use your computer because your mouse doesn't work, is frustrating. Either through preference or
		circumstance. This is solved by keyboard compatibility. Keyboard compatibility is described in WCAG. See the video
		below to watch the same information again in video form.
	</p>
	<video src="/test-assets/perspective-video/perspective-video.mp4" controls></video>
</html>

Inapplicable

Inapplicable Example 1

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A video element that is not visible.

<html lang="en">
	<video src="/test-assets/perspective-video/perspective-video.mp4" controls style="display: none;"></video>
</html>

Inapplicable Example 2

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A video element without audio.

<html lang="en">
	<video src="/test-assets/perspective-video/perspective-video-silent.mp4" controls></video>
</html>

Glossary

Outcome

An outcome is a conclusion that comes from evaluating an ACT Rule on a test subject or one of its constituent test target. An outcome can be one of the three following types:

  • Inapplicable: No part of the test subject matches the applicability
  • Passed: A test target meets all expectations
  • Failed: A test target does not meet all expectations

Note: A rule has one passed or failed outcome for every test target. When there are no test targets the rule has one inapplicable outcome. This means that each test subject will have one or more outcomes.

Note: Implementations using the EARL10-Schema can express the outcome with the outcome property. In addition to passed, failed and inapplicable, EARL 1.0 also defined an incomplete outcome. While this cannot be the outcome of an ACT Rule when applied in its entirety, it often happens that rules are only partially evaluated. For example, when applicability was automated, but the expectations have to be evaluated manually. Such "interim" results can be expressed with the incomplete outcome.

Visible

Content perceivable through sight.

Content is considered visible if making it fully transparent would result in a difference in the pixels rendered for any part of the document that is currently within the viewport or can be brought into the viewport via scrolling.

Content is defined in WCAG.

For more details, see examples of visible.

Useful Links

Implementations

This section is not part of the official rule. It is populated dynamically and not accounted for in the change history or the last modified date. This section will not be included in the rule when it is published on the W3C website.

ToolConsistencyCompleteReport
axe-coreconsistentYesView Report
QualWebconsistentYesView Report

Acknowledgments

Authors

Funding

  • WAI-Tools

Assets

  • Web Accessibility Perspective videos by W3C WAI.
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