WCAG 2.2 success criterion 1.2.5, Audio Description (Prerecorded), is a Level AA requirement: prerecorded video has audio description.
Read the criterion in the W3C Recommendation, WCAG 2.2 (opens in a new tab).
How BearScan checks it
Prerecorded video has audio description
Checked automatically: reads the HTML. Severity: medium. At AA a transcript alone no longer suffices: a blind user watching alongside others needs the visual information in the soundtrack itself.
An approximation: Detects a descriptions track. A video whose file lists no sound track (read from its container without playing it) is not synchronised media and is out of scope. A video whose soundtrack already describes every visual needs no separate description, and that is a judgement about the content, so the rule never passes a page that carries video with sound.
How to fix it. Provide an audio-described version of every prerecorded video, either as a <track kind="descriptions"> or as an alternate cut with described audio, unless the original soundtrack already conveys every visual.
All WCAG 2.2 criteria · Next: 1.3.1 Info and Relationships
Questions
Is WCAG 1.2.5 required by the ADA?
The ADA doesn't name a technical standard for businesses, but the Justice Department's 2022 guidance points businesses to WCAG, and its 2024 rule for state and local governments adopted WCAG 2.1 Level AA, which includes 1.2.5.
Can an automated tool check WCAG 1.2.5?
Mostly. BearScan checks it automatically (reads the HTML). A clean result still isn't proof every page passes, only the pages scanned.
How do I fix a WCAG 1.2.5 failure?
Provide an audio-described version of every prerecorded video, either as a <track kind="descriptions"> or as an alternate cut with described audio, unless the original soundtrack already conveys every visual.