Extended descriptions for pre-recorded media
Silktide finds the audio and video players on your pages so you can confirm that pre-recorded videos provide extended audio descriptions where ordinary ones cannot keep up. Judging whether the dialogue leaves enough room for description is something only a person can do.
Why this matters
A standard squeezes its narration into natural pauses in the dialogue. In fast-talking or densely edited video there may be no pauses to use, so important visual information goes undescribed. An extended audio description solves this by pausing the video itself while the narration catches up.
This requirement comes from success criterion 1.2.7, which applies at - the strictest conformance level, beyond what most organisations target.
How to fix it
Findings from this check are prompts to verify, not confirmed failures. For each video reported:
- Check whether the video contains important visual information that its existing audio and standard descriptions do not convey.
- If the dialogue has enough natural pauses for a standard description, or the video has no meaningful visual-only content, it passes; the finding.
- Otherwise, publish a version with extended audio descriptions - most video platforms and production tools support providing an alternative described version - and link it clearly from the original.
How Silktide tests this
- Find the video and audio players in each page's own , skipping any elements you have excluded from checking.
- Ignore media that is permanently muted, and media that already includes a
text track (a
<track>element), such as or descriptions. - Also report links that go directly to videos on known external video platforms.
- Report each remaining player for you to review - Silktide cannot watch the media or measure its pauses.
Troubleshooting
The video has descriptions but is still listed
Silktide cannot detect narration inside a media file, only text tracks declared in the page's HTML. Verify that the descriptions are sufficient and approve the finding.