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This is an early unpublished editor's draft; content is incomplete and subject to change.

Descriptive transcripts available

Core requirement

Descriptive transcripts are provided for prerecorded audio and video content.

Except when

  • The media is purely decorative.
  • The media is already a media alternative for text and is clearly labeled as such.
  • The visual track includes no information that is not already conveyed in the audio track (for example, a “talking head” video where only the speaker is visible against a static background).

Tests

This content needs to be written.

Key Terms

accessibility support set

group of user agents and assistive technologies you test with

The AGWG is considering defining a default set of user agents and assistive technologies that they use when validating guidelines.

Accessibility support sets may vary based on language, region, or situation.

If you are not using the default accessibility set, the conformance report should indicate what set is being used.

accessibility supported

available and working in the user agents and assistive technology in the accessibility support set

The working group intended to include a default accessibility support set. See Default accessibility support set #277.

audio

live or recorded sound signal

conformance

satisfying all the requirements of the guidelines

Conformance is an important part of following the guidelines even when not making a formal Conformance Claim

See the Conformance section for more information.

content

information, sensory experience and interactions conveyed

descriptive transcript

A text-based document where the chronological sequence of audio and video information is matched in the text to the sequence of the original media object, combining dialogue and sound tracking with descriptions of meaningful sound and visual actions, information, expressions, and settings.

This format integrates both auditory and visual descriptions into a single text stream, serving as an accessibility solution for users who cannot access either track, specifically including individuals who are Deafblind.

human language

language that is spoken, written, or signed (through visual or tactile means) to communicate with humans

informative

content provided for information purposes and not required for conformance. Also referred to as non-normative

programmatically determinable

meaning of the content and all its important attributes can be determined by software functionality that is accessibility supported

purely decorative

non-text content that serves only an aesthetic purpose, provides no information, and has no functionality, such that it can be ignored by assistive technology without any loss of meaning or context

text

sequence of characters that can be programmatically determined, where the sequence is expressing something in human language

video

the technology of moving or sequenced pictures or images

Video can be made up of animated or photographic images, or both.