How to Handle a Missing Audio Description Finding in Storyline 360

Overview

This finding means the video on this slide 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 actually has that kind of visual-only information, then decide how to cover it. Storyline 360 has no feature for attaching a description track, so in practice you handle this in the narration or with a separate described version of the video.

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Watch the video 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, that information has to be covered. Use one of the next three steps.

4. 4

   Best option: edit or re-record the narration so it says the important visual information ("check the pressure gauge first, then the temperature gauge, then close the valve"), re-export the video, and swap it into the slide.

5. 5

   If you cannot change the narration, add spoken description into the natural pauses in the video, or produce a separate described version of the video and offer it as an alternative.

6. 6

   A full text alternative on the slide, a complete written account of everything shown and said, satisfies WCAG 1.2.3 (Level A) but not WCAG 1.2.5 (Level AA). If you are targeting AA, the description has to be in audio form.

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.
• For screen recordings, narrate what you click and where, not just the concept, so the steps are followable by ear.

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 transcript and assuming it is enough. A transcript meets WCAG 1.2.3 but not the stronger 1.2.5 Level AA.
• Looking for a "descriptions track" setting in Storyline. There is not one; the fix happens in the narration or with a separate described version.

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.