A11ying with Sanna - Web Content Accessibility Guidelines a guide to the accessibility requirements
1 Perceivable

1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded)

Conformance level: A
Criterion released in WCAG version: 2.0

Official description of the success criterion

Captions are provided for all prerecorded audio content in synchronized media, except when the media is a media alternative for text and is clearly labeled as such.

What to do?

Provide captions for all prerecorded audio content in synchronized media.

Why is it important?

Captions make audio content accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Common pitfalls

Common issues are not having captions at all or that the captions are not descriptive enough.

Some people use auto-generated captions as they are, and those aren't often good enough.

How to test for it?

Watch the videos. Ensure that the captions

  • exist and
  • are descriptive enough.

While open captions are allowed, closed captions are better for accessibility.

More about this criterion elsewhere