Videos without descriptions are not accessible to the blind. In both cases, the information needs to be provided in an alternative format. Important information contained in audio or video also needs to be available in text. These alternative formats and captions are also used frequently by those who have hardware or environment limitations. For example, the captions on a video can be selected when the audio would be distracting to others in the area.
Some multimedia players allow for additional tracks to accommodate additional languages.
Techniques for Multimedia . The following techniques and examples support Checkpoint 4 from the IBM Checklist for Web Accessibility . In an accessible site, a distinction is made between a transcript and a description of multimedia content. Descriptions and transcripts can be on the same page, on a separate page, or on a page with a listing of the descriptions of all significant clips on the site. The current convention is to create a hyperlink to the transcript and description near the multimedia clip or to integrate the description into an available track of the multimedia content.