WCAG 2.0 · Level A · Perceivable
1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)
Manual verification
How to validate 1.2.3 by hand
For prerecorded synchronized media, check whether important visual information is available through audio description or a complete media alternative.
Start with the extension result
Reopen the reported URL and reproduce the same state (for example, after expanding a menu or submitting a form). Use the result’s Highlight action when available, or its affected-element details and CSS selector, to find the reported content. Apply the checks below to that content and its context. If the element or state has changed, rescan and record that difference before deciding whether the finding still applies.
- Watch the video without relying on its visual track and list actions, scene changes, on-screen text, and other information not conveyed in dialogue.
- Listen to the audio-description track or read the provided media alternative and compare it with that list.
- Check that the alternative is associated with the correct video and can be reached using the player or page controls.
Evidence to record
Note a timestamp and the visual information that a person who cannot see the video would miss.
Scope and exceptions
A separate audio-description track is not the only route when a complete text alternative supplies the same information. Distinguish this criterion from the more specific audio-description requirement in 1.2.5.
Record the review outcome
- Confirmed: the recorded evidence shows the requirement is not met in the tested page state, and no applicable exception explains it.
- Not reproduced: the reported issue is absent in the current state. Record the URL, state, and affected element you checked; this does not prove other pages or states conform.
- Needs more review: evidence is incomplete, the content requires human judgment, or an exception is uncertain. Record what remains to be checked instead of treating it as a pass.