Publish accessible video and audio

Publish safety clips, meeting recordings, galleries, and podcasts with accurate captions, applicable transcripts, audio description, and a player people can operate.

Media producers, editors, and publishers4 min read

Identify the media alternatives

First identify whether the file is synchronized video with audio, audio-only, or video-only, and whether it is prerecorded or live. For prerecorded synchronized video with audio, WCAG 2.2 Level A requires synchronized captions and either audio description or a media alternative for the video. Level AA adds the audio-description requirement. For prerecorded audio-only, provide an equivalent transcript; a caption track is not required for standalone audio. For prerecorded video-only, provide a text alternative or an audio track that conveys the information. Live audio in synchronized media requires captions at Level AA.

These are different deliverables. Captions represent speech and meaningful sounds in time with synchronized video. A transcript is a complete, readable text alternative and should include speaker changes and relevant sound or visual information. Audio description voices important visual information during natural pauses. A transcript alone is not automatically an audio description, and captions do not describe visual-only actions.

Produce captions, transcript, and description

Start with a script or clean transcript, then synchronize captions and identify speakers when that helps. Include meaningful sounds such as a warning alarm, a door closing, or music that changes the meaning. Review names, acronyms, numbers, locations, and technical terms. Keep the transcript as HTML when possible so it can be searched, copied, resized, and read by assistive technology.

For a safety demonstration, describe actions a viewer cannot see, such as “The supervisor points to the red shutoff lever on the left side of the panel.” If the narration already conveys all important visual information, a separate audio-description track is not needed. An accompanying transcript is recommended for usability, but is not a blanket AA requirement for every narrated video. A sign-language version may be useful for the audience; it is not part of the AA target.

Some Level A media criteria have an exception for clearly labeled media alternatives that convey no more information than text already provided. That exception does not remove the Level AA requirement to convey important visual information through audio. Ask a media-accessibility reviewer before relying on an exception.

Example

A caption may say [alarm sounds] Leave the work area now. A descriptive transcript also explains that the supervisor points to the emergency exit map while saying “use this route.” The caption and description solve different access needs.

Publish with an accessible player

Use a player whose controls can be reached and operated by keyboard, whose captions can be turned on, and whose focus remains visible. Put the title, duration, language, captions, transcript, and any alternative version near the player. A YouTube, Vimeo, or other hosted video still needs an accessible page around it; an embed does not transfer responsibility for the surrounding heading, link, transcript, or instructions.

YouTube can generate captions for video, but its own guidance says automatic captions may misrepresent speech because of accents, pronunciation, dialects, or background noise. Review and edit them in YouTube Studio before treating them as published captions. For synchronized video, check captions at normal speed, with sound muted, and with the transcript open. For audio-only, verify the transcript against the recording instead of assuming a caption track is needed. Also test a direct download or alternate version if the player cannot expose a required feature.

Hand off production and review

Bring in a captioning or media-accessibility specialist when speech overlaps, the edit has little narration over important visuals, the content is live, or a safety or instructional video depends on precise timing. Give the specialist the final cut, script, glossary, speaker names, transcript, intended platform, and a list of visual events that must be described. Keep caption and transcript files with the source so a replacement YouTube or Vimeo upload does not lose them.

Record the media type, language, caption and description status, player tested, date tested, and unresolved issues. A checker cannot judge whether a caption is accurate or whether a visual description preserves the task, so include a human playback review.

Before you publish

Check each item as you review. These marks last for this page visit only.

Classify the item as prerecorded or live audio, video-only, audio-only, or synchronized media before choosing alternatives.Provide accurate synchronized captions for prerecorded synchronized video with audio, and an applicable transcript for audio-only media.Review YouTube or other auto-generated captions against the final synchronized-video audio, including names, numbers, and meaningful sounds.Place a complete transcript and clear alternative links near the player and test controls with a keyboard.Have a media-accessibility specialist review safety, instructional, live, or visually dependent content.

Sources and standards

Related WCAG criteria: 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded); 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded); 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded); 1.2.4 Captions (Live); 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded); 2.1.1 Keyboard. This is a task-specific reference, not a complete conformance checklist.

Guidance reviewed September 12, 2026. Tool interfaces may vary by version.