Reviewed September 30, 2026

Accessible video and audio

Prerecorded video with speech needs captions. Prerecorded audio-only, such as a podcast, needs a transcript. Those are Level A requirements in WCAG 2.2 (success criteria 1.2.1 and 1.2.2). Audio description of visual-only information is Level AA (1.2.5) when the visuals are not already described in the dialogue.

Which media criterion applies?

• 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded), Level A: a transcript for audio-only, or a transcript or audio track for video-only.
• 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded), Level A: captions for video that has speech or meaningful sound.
• 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded), Level A: a description of visual information, or a full text alternative.
• 1.2.4 Captions (Live), Level AA: captions for live video with speech.
• 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded), Level AA: audio description when visuals are not already in the dialogue.

What belongs in captions?

• Speaker changes, so a listener can tell who is talking.
• Meaningful sounds, such as a door closing or applause, when they matter.
• Punctuation and names spelled correctly. Auto-captions are a draft, not a publishable track.
• A player control that turns captions on, with an accessible name, operable without a mouse.
• Captions the user can turn off. Do not burn them into the picture unless the video is a logo-style exception.

Where should the transcript go?

Put the transcript on the same page as the media, or link it immediately beside the player. A transcript that is a separate unlabeled PDF fails people twice: once for the missing text on the page, and again if the PDF is untagged. The transcript includes the spoken words and the relevant visual information if you are using it as the media alternative under 1.2.3.

What does the player itself have to do?

The player must be keyboard operable: play, pause, mute, captions, and seek cannot be pointer-only. Each control needs an accessible name. If audio plays automatically for more than three seconds, success criterion 1.4.2 requires a way to pause or stop it, or to control the volume independently of the system volume. That rule is explained on the autoplay audio page. Video that flashes more than three times in one second fails a separate rule, covered on the three flashes page. The media criteria are in WCAG 2.2, section 1.2.