WCAG 1.2.2 — Captions (Prerecorded) — No Captions on Video

Who Is Affected

Deaf and hard of hearing users (approximately 15% of US adults have some degree of hearing loss), users in noisy environments, users who prefer to watch videos without sound, and non-native speakers who benefit from reading along with audio.

What This Means

Captions are synchronized text that appears on screen during video playback, showing spoken words and important sound effects. They must be accurate, properly timed, and identify who is speaking when multiple people are shown.

This is different from subtitles (which assume you can hear) or transcripts (which are separate from the video). Captions are embedded in or displayed alongside the video player and can be turned on or off by the user.

Videos that are purely visual with no meaningful audio track are exempt from this requirement.

Fix: Content Editor

Step 1: Determine if captions are required

• Does your video contain speech, narration, or important sounds (like alarms, crashes, or music)?
• If yes, captions are required. If the video is purely visual demonstration with no meaningful audio, captions are not needed.

Step 2: Create caption files

• Option A: Use YouTube Studio if your video is hosted on YouTube. Upload your video, go to the Subtitles section, and review/edit the auto-generated captions for accuracy.
• Option B: Create a WebVTT (.vtt) or SRT (.srt) file with properly timed captions. Professional services like Rev or 3Play Media can create these files.
• Option C: Use your video platform's built-in captioning tools (Vimeo, Wistia, etc.).

Step 3: Add captions to your video player

• For YouTube embeds: Captions are automatically available when you embed YouTube videos. No additional action needed.
• For HTML5 video players: Add the caption file using the <track> element:

  <video controls>
    <source src="meeting.mp4" type="video/mp4">
    <track kind="captions" src="meeting.vtt" srclang="en" label="English" default>
  </video>
  

• For third-party video platforms: Upload your caption file through the platform's admin interface.

Step 4: Test caption quality

• Play the video and turn on captions
• Verify timing is accurate (text appears when words are spoken)
• Check that speaker identification is clear when multiple people speak
• Ensure important non-speech sounds are described in brackets [applause], [phone ringing]

Fix: CMS / Theme

If your website frequently hosts videos, consider standardizing on a video platform or player that makes captioning straightforward:

Joomla:

• Install an extension like AllVideos or JW Player that supports WebVTT caption files
• Create a content workflow requiring caption files for all video uploads
• Set up template code that automatically looks for .vtt files matching video filenames

WordPress:

• Use plugins like VideoPress or Presto Player that include caption support
• Consider hosting videos on YouTube and embedding them (captions included automatically)
• Add custom fields to your video content type for caption file uploads

Standard Reference

WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.2.2 — Captions (Prerecorded), Level A

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.

• W3C Understanding SC 1.2.2
• WCAG Technique G87 — Providing closed captions
• WCAG Technique G93 — Open captions
• WCAG Technique H95 — Using track element for captions
• WCAG Failure F8 — Missing captions for multimedia
• WCAG Failure F74 — Not identifying changes in language