Transcripts for Audio-Only and Silent Video Under the ADA

Which recordings need a text or audio alternative

Some content has no second channel. A council meeting posted as an MP3 gives a deaf resident nothing. A silent screen recording of how to use a ticket kiosk gives a blind resident nothing. WCAG 1.2.1 (Level A) covers exactly these two cases: prerecorded audio-only and prerecorded video-only content.

• Prerecorded audio-only: an alternative for time-based media must present equivalent information. In practice, a transcript.
• Prerecorded video-only: either an alternative for time-based media (a text description) or an audio track that presents the same information.
• Exception: the audio or video is itself a media alternative for text and is clearly labeled as such, for example "Audio version of this notice".

Recordings that combine sound and picture are not handled here; they fall under 1.2.2, 1.2.3 and 1.2.5. Live audio and live video are outside this criterion too.

The public meeting archive problem

Local governments publish a lot of audio: board meetings, emergency alerts, voicemail-style recorded messages, oral history collections in libraries. They also publish silent clips, such as a looping demonstration of how to scan a card at a turnstile. These are often uploaded as bare files with only a title, and the minutes are a separate PDF that may or may not match.

A transcript posted next to the recording does the job and also helps everyone who wants to search, skim or read in a noisy place. For entities working toward the deadlines in the Title II web rule, the most common gap is simply that nobody owned the transcript step when the file was uploaded.

Web recipes: transcripts and descriptions

The recording and its alternative should sit together so a user does not need to search for the second one.

<h2>Board of Supervisors, March 12</h2>
<audio controls src="/audio/bos-2026-03-12.mp3"></audio>

<h2>Board of Supervisors, March 12</h2>
<audio controls src="/audio/bos-2026-03-12.mp3"></audio>
<p>
  <a href="/audio/bos-2026-03-12-transcript.html">
    Read the transcript of the March 12 meeting
  </a>
</p>

A silent video needs the information carried in words (or in a narration track). Tie the description to the video so it is announced with it.

<video controls muted src="/video/kiosk-tap-card.mp4"></video>

<video controls muted
       src="/video/kiosk-tap-card.mp4"
       aria-describedby="kiosk-desc"></video>
<div id="kiosk-desc">
  <p>A rider holds a fare card flat against the round
  reader on the right side of the kiosk. The screen
  changes from "Tap card" to "Balance: $12.40".</p>
</div>

A transcript is more than the spoken words. Speakers and meaningful sounds belong in it.

we will now open the hearing on the
parking proposal ... all in favor

[Gavel]
CHAIR HOLT: We will now open the hearing on the
parking proposal.
[Chairs scraping, murmuring]
CHAIR HOLT: All in favor?
[Four voices: "Aye"]

In native apps

The rule does not depend on the platform: an app that plays a recorded message or a silent tutorial needs the same transcript or description. It is delivered as screen content, such as a "Transcript" button that opens a text view, so no platform-specific API snippet is needed here.

Writing a transcript people can actually use

• Name each speaker the first time they talk and whenever the voice changes.
• Include sounds that carry meaning: alarms, applause, a phone ringing, a long silence.
• For video-only content, describe what is shown and what changes, in the order it happens, and include any text that appears on screen.
• Keep the text in HTML on the page when you can. A scanned PDF of the minutes is not a transcript.

How to check it

1. List every audio or video file on the page. For each one, ask whether it has sound only, picture only, or both.
2. For audio-only items, read the transcript while listening. Does the text contain everything said, plus important sounds?
3. For silent video, close your eyes and have someone read the text description, or turn on the narration track. Can you follow the process?
4. Confirm the alternative is discoverable by keyboard and with a screen reader, not only visible on screen.

Automated tools can detect an audio or video element; they cannot tell whether a transcript is complete.

Pitfalls

• Posting the agenda as "the transcript" of a meeting.
• Auto-generated text published without review, leaving names and numbers wrong.
• Putting the transcript behind a login or a separate request form.
• Describing a silent demo with one line such as "Video showing the process".
• Treating a recording with both voice and picture as audio-only because the picture is a still slide; that content belongs to the captions criterion.

Ship it when

• Every audio-only recording has a transcript linked beside it.
• Every silent video has a description or an equivalent audio track.
• Labeled "audio version" or "video version" items really duplicate text that is on the same page.

Sources

• Understanding SC 1.2.1: Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) (W3C), opens in a new tab
• G158: Providing an alternative for time-based media for audio-only content (W3C), opens in a new tab
• G159: Providing an alternative for time-based media for video-only content (W3C), opens in a new tab
• 28 CFR Part 35, Subpart H: Accessibility of Web Information and Services (eCFR), opens in a new tab

Standard version: WCAG 2.1 (W3C Recommendation, 5 June 2018), as named in the Title II web rule. This page is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. For binding requirements, refer to the official ADA statute and regulations, and ask a lawyer how they apply to you.