WCAG Media Standards
For descriptions of captions, transcripts, audio description, sign language and other introductory information, please see the previous page: Making Video and Audio Accessible - Introduction.
WCAG
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is introduced in the WCAG Overview.
WCAG includes requirements for video and audio ("media"), at Level A, AA, and AAA. Most media is required by governing policies to meet Level AA — which includes both A and AA listed in the tables below.
Accessibility requirements for video and audio are different based on if they are:
- pre-recorded or live
- video with audio, video without audio (video only), or audio only
Pre-Recorded
| Transcript (including auditory and visual content) | Captions | Audio Description (if visual content not in audio) | Sign Language | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Video with Audio | AAA 1.2.8 | A 1.2.2 | A 1.2.3 (audio description or transcript) AA 1.2.5 AAA 1.2.7 |
AAA 1.2.6 |
| Audio only | A 1.2.1 AAA 1.2.8 |
A 1.2.2 | AAA 1.2.6 | |
| Video only | A 1.2.1 (transcript or audio description) AAA 1.2.8 |
A 1.2.3 (audio description or transcript) AA 1.2.5 |
Live
| Transcript | Captions | Audio Description | Sign Language | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Video with Audio | AA 1.2.4 | |||
| Audio only | AAA 1.2.9 | AA 1.2.4 | ||
| Video only |
Learn More
To learn more about WCAG standards for media, see Understanding Guideline 1.2: Time-based Media .
To figure out what your specific video or audio needs, see the next page: What Does My Video/Audio Need?
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