How to Handle a Missing Audio Description Finding in Rise 360

Overview

This finding means the video in this lesson has no audio description track. It does not mean the video definitely needs one. Audio description covers important information a video shows but never says out loud, an on-screen diagram, text, a demonstration, an action. First decide whether this video has that kind of visual-only information, then decide how to cover it. Rise 360 has no feature for attaching a description track, so you handle this in the narration, in a Text block, or with a separate described version of the video.

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Play the video and watch it with your eyes closed or the screen turned off.

2. 2

   If you can still follow everything that matters from the audio alone, audio description may not be needed for this video. Confirm that there is no important visual-only information before closing the finding.

3. 3

   If you miss something important that only appears on screen, cover it with one of the next three steps.

4. 4

   Best option: edit or re-record the narration so it says the important visual information, then re-upload the video to the Video block.

5. 5

   If the video cannot change, add a Text block directly below it that describes what is shown, the diagram, the on-screen steps, the demonstration, in full.

6. 6

   A complete written account in that Text block satisfies WCAG 1.2.3 (Level A). It does not satisfy WCAG 1.2.5 (Level AA); for AA the description has to be in audio form, which means new narration or a separately described version of the video.

Screenshots

Tips

• Captions do not cover this. Captions are the text of what is said; they do nothing for information that is only shown.
• A presenter speaking to camera almost never needs description. Silent demonstrations and narrated diagrams usually do.
• Rise's Video block already nudges you toward this: if you lose information with your eyes closed, that is the gap to fill.

Common mistakes

• Treating the finding as a defect without watching the video. The check is a presence check; it does not know whether description is actually needed.
• Adding a caption file and assuming it covers description. It does not.
• Looking for a "descriptions track" option in Rise. There is not one.

Why it matters

A learner who cannot see the screen only hears the narration. If the video shows something that matters and never says it out loud, that learner loses it.