How to fix: video without captions

What it looks like in the wild

Deaf users cannot access audio content.

The screen-reader user, keyboard user, or low-vision user encountering this issue does not get an error message. The page just stops working for them. Which is why this kind of bug rarely shows up in your error tracker; it shows up in support tickets, lawsuits, and abandoned conversions.

Why it fails WCAG

Captions transcribe both speech and meaningful sound.

The wrong pattern (avoid)

<video src="/promo.mp4" controls></video>

The right pattern (copy this)

<video src="/promo.mp4" controls>
  <track kind="captions" src="/promo.en.vtt" srclang="en" label="English" default>
</video>

Notes from real audits

• YouTube auto-captions are not WCAG-compliant on their own; review and correct.

How to verify the fix

Shipping the change is not the same as passing 1.2.2. Re-run these checks against the page you edited before you close the ticket.

• Watch every video with sound off; meaning must be preserved.

What 1.2.2 requires

1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) (Level A, Perceivable): Captions must be provided for all prerecorded audio in synchronized media. Deaf and hard-of-hearing users (1 in 6) cannot access audio content without captions; auto-translated captions also benefit non-native speakers.

• Marketing videos without captions

  1.2.2

• YouTube auto-captions left as the only option

  1.2.2

Priority: Critical

This is one of the findings that shows up in demand letters, because the barrier it creates is total rather than inconvenient: the affected user cannot complete the task at all. Treat it as a release blocker, not a backlog item.

Because the cause is almost always a shared component rather than a single page, fix it where the component is defined and re-scan the whole site. Record 1.2.2 on the ticket verbatim: that string is what an auditor, a procurement questionnaire or a regulator will search for.