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The WCAG Primer is intended for use by the UK cross government accessibility community.

1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (A)

Understanding 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (A)

Video content like instructional videos must have audio description, unless it already has a text alternative. This ensures that information communicated visually in the video is available to people who cannot see it.

Requirements / What to do?

  • Video content is audio described, or has a text alternative that describes the visual content of the video.

Common mistakes

  • The video does not have audio description or a text alternative;
  • The audio description does not describe important information communicated visually in the video;
  • The text alternative does not describe important information communicated visually in the video;
  • The audio description is not synchronised to complement the audio content of the video.

Useful resources