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Proposed Video element visual content has accessible alternative

Description

This rule checks that video elements with audio have an alternative for the video content as audio or as text.

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:

Background

Assumptions

Accessibility Support

The HTML video element can also have a track element that provides an audio description. This should provide assistive technologies with a timed text description of visual information in a video. However, there is no native support in any major browser for this technique. Technique H96: Using the track element to provide audio descriptions can not be relied upon to conform to 1.2.3: Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded).

Bibliography

Accessibility Requirements Mapping

Secondary Requirements

This rule is related to the following accessibility requirements, but was not designed to test this requirements directly. These secondary requirements can either be stricter than the rule requires, or may be satisfied in ways not tested by the rule:

Input Rules

Outcomes of the following rules are required as input for this rule.

Test Cases

These HTML files are used in several examples:

File /test-assets/rabbit-video/transcript.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
	<head>
		<meta charset="utf-8" />
		<title>Description of the rabbit video</title>
	</head>
	<body>
		<h1>Description of the rabbit video</h1>
		<p>
			The video shows a giant fat rabbit climbing out of a hole in the ground. He stretches, yawns, and then starts
			walking. Then he stops to scratch his bottom.
		</p>
	</body>
</html>

File /test-assets/rabbit-video/incorrect-transcript.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
	<head>
		<meta charset="utf-8" />
		<title>Description of the dog video</title>
	</head>
	<body>
		<h1>Description of the dog video</h1>
		<p>
			The video shows a giant fat dog climbing out of a hole in the ground. He stretches, yawns, and then starts
			walking. Then he stops to scratch his bottom.
		</p>
	</body>
</html>

Passed

Passed Example 1

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This video element has an audio description because it has voiceover that describes the visual information.

<html lang="en">
	<video controls>
		<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video-with-voiceover.mp4" type="video/mp4" />
		<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video-with-voiceover.webm" type="video/webm" />
	</video>
</html>

Passed Example 2

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A video element with a link to a text transcript.

<html lang="en">
	<video controls>
		<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video.mp4" type="video/mp4" />
		<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video.webm" type="video/webm" />
	</video>
	<a href="/test-assets/rabbit-video/transcript.html">Transcript</a>
</html>

Passed Example 3

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This video element describes some of the text on the same page. The text identifies the video as an alternative.

<html lang="en">
	<p>
		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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This video element has an incorrect audio description.

<html lang="en">
	<video controls>
		<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video-with-incorrect-voiceover.mp4" type="video/mp4" />
		<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video-with-incorrect-voiceover.webm" type="video/webm" />
	</video>
</html>

Failed Example 2

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A video element with a link to an incorrect text transcript on a different page.

<html lang="en">
	<video controls>
		<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video.mp4" type="video/mp4" />
		<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video.webm" type="video/webm" />
	</video>
	<a href="/test-assets/rabbit-video/incorrect-transcript.html">Transcript</a>
</html>

Failed Example 3

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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>

Failed Example 4

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A video element with a description track element. Description tracks are not supported.

<html lang="en">
	<video controls>
		<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video.mp4" type="video/mp4" />
		<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video.webm" type="video/webm" />
		<track kind="descriptions" src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/descriptions.vtt" />
	</video>
</html>

Inapplicable

Inapplicable Example 1

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A video element without audio.

<html lang="en">
	<video controls>
		<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/silent.mp4" type="video/mp4" />
		<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/silent.webm" type="video/webm" />
	</video>
</html>

Inapplicable Example 2

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A video element that is not visible.

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

Glossary

Non-streaming media element

A non-streaming media element is an HTML Media Element for which the duration property is not 0.

Outcome

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 five following types:

Note: A rule has one passed or failed outcome for every test target. When a tester evaluates a test target it can also be reported as cantTell if the rule cannot be tested in its entirety. For example, when applicability was automated, but the expectations have to be evaluated manually.

When there are no test targets the rule has one inapplicable outcome. If the tester is unable to determine whether there are test targets there will be one cantTell outcome. And when no evaluation has occurred the test target has one untested outcome. This means that each test subject always has one or more outcomes.

Outcomes used in ACT Rules can be expressed using the outcome property of the [EARL10-Schema][].

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.

Rule Versions

This is the first version of this ACT rule.

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.

Implementation Type Consistency Report
Alfa (semi-automated) 0.80.0 Semi-automated tool Consistent Alfa (semi-automated) Report
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This is an unpublished draft preview that might include content that is not yet approved. The published website is at w3.org/WAI/.