Audio Description for eLearning Video: When You Need It and How to Do It

Questions answered by this guide

• ?What is audio description?
• ?How is audio description different from captions or a transcript?
• ?Does my course video need audio description?
• ?What is the difference between WCAG 1.2.3 and 1.2.5?
• ?How do I add audio description to a Storyline or Rise video?
• ?Why did A11yCheck flag my video for missing audio description?

What you'll learn

• Audio description covers what a video shows but never says out loud; captions cover what it says, and a transcript is the full text of both
• WCAG 1.2.3 (Level A) lets you meet the requirement with either audio description or a full text alternative; WCAG 1.2.5 (Level AA) requires audio description specifically
• If the narration already describes every important visual, no separate description is needed
• The usual eLearning approach is to script the important on-screen information into the narration from the start, not to add a separate description track
• Neither Storyline nor Rise gives you a way to add a description track through the normal authoring interface

What's inside

Instructional designers and accessibility reviewers deciding whether a course video needs audio description

1. 01What audio description is
2. 02How it differs from captions and transcripts
3. 03When it is required
4. 04The practical eLearning approach
5. 05Storyline and Rise
6. 06How A11yCheck reviews this

Why it matters

A learner who is blind or has low vision hears the video's narration but cannot see anything on screen. If the video shows something that matters and never says it out loud, a diagram, a piece of on-screen text, a demonstration, a character's action, that learner loses that content. Audio description is how you fill that gap. WCAG 1.2.3 (Audio Description or Media Alternative, Level A) requires either an audio description or a complete text alternative for prerecorded video with sound. WCAG 1.2.5 (Audio Description, Level AA) requires the audio description specifically. There is an important exception in both: if the audio track already conveys all of the important visual information, nothing extra is needed.

When you'll encounter this

• A course has a video that shows a diagram, on-screen text, or a demonstration that the narration does not fully describe.
• You are preparing a VPAT or a formal accessibility review and need to state how the course meets WCAG 1.2.3 or 1.2.5.
• A11yCheck flags a missing audio description issue on a scan report for a slide that contains a video.
• A stakeholder asks whether captions alone are enough for your course videos.

Examples

Best practices

• Watch each course video with the screen off or your eyes closed. If you can still follow everything that matters, the video does not need description. If you miss something important, it does.
• Prefer writing the important on-screen information into the narration script from the start. This is faster, cheaper, and more reliable than producing a separate description track, and it helps every learner.
• If a video is already finished and has visual-only information the narration does not cover, your options are: re-record or edit the narration, add spoken description into the natural pauses, or provide a separate described version of the video. A full text alternative on the page can also satisfy WCAG 1.2.3 (Level A) but not 1.2.5 (Level AA).
• Do not rely on captions to cover this. Captions are for what is said; they do nothing for information that is only shown.
• For screen recordings and software demos, narrate what you are clicking and where, not just the concept, so the steps are followable by ear.

Common mistakes

• Assuming captions or a transcript cover audio description. They cover the spoken content only.
• Adding audio description to a video where the narration already describes every important visual, which is unnecessary work.
• Leaving important on-screen text, labels, or numbers undescribed because "the caption file has them", captions are not shown to a learner who is listening rather than reading.
• Planning description after the video is finished, when re-recording or re-editing is expensive, instead of scripting it in up front.

Practical checklist

• Every course video has been watched with the screen off to check whether visual-only information is missed.
• Any video with important visual-only information has that information covered, either in its own narration or in a separate described version.
• Talking-head and narration-only videos are documented as not requiring separate description, with a short reason.
• Captions and a transcript are provided in addition, not instead.
• Screen recordings narrate the actual steps, not just the concept.

Frequently asked questions

Summary

Audio description covers the important things a video shows but never says, so a blind or low-vision learner does not miss them. It is separate from captions (what is said) and transcripts (the full text). WCAG 1.2.3 accepts audio description or a full text alternative; 1.2.5 requires audio description. If the narration already describes every important visual, nothing extra is needed, and that is how most eLearning meets the requirement. Neither Storyline nor Rise offers a description-track feature, so the practical fix is to script the visuals into the narration. A11yCheck's check is a presence check for a <video> without a description track; it does not judge whether description is actually needed, and it does not see YouTube or Vimeo embeds.