audio-caption

Ensures <audio> elements have captions.

Description

Each HTML5 audio element requires the track element, with the attribute kind="captions" set. For the advantage of users who are hearing-impaired, captions are text versions of the dialogue, narration, and any significant auditory information that is timed to match the audio file.

Why is it important?

While visually impaired individuals can hear dialogue in movies, they miss visual details. Audio descriptions fill these gaps, providing context during speech pauses to enhance understanding.

On the other hand, without an audio file caption, hearing impaired users miss crucial information like speaker identification, dialogue, and non-speech elements such as music or sound effects. Captions convey content available in the audio track.

How to fix?

Ensure that the caption text comprehensively communicates significant audio details, including speaker identification, dialogue transcript, musical cues, and sound effects. Additionally, verify that the track element’s kind has the value as "captions".

References

• WCAG 1.2.1: Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded)