Writing Transcripts and Captions for Multimedia
Writing Transcripts and Captions for Multimedia records accessibility-focused writing guidance from the named standards body while keeping implementation and wording advice separate from unrelated general style rules.
For audio-only content, provide a transcript; for audio-and-video content, provide captions and include spoken information and important sounds needed to understand the content.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
This page covers accessibility content requirements for transcripts/captions, not typographic figure-caption styling already owned elsewhere.
Further guidance
Content
For audio-only content, provide a transcript; for audio-and-video content, provide captions and include spoken information and important sounds needed to understand the content.
Purpose
W3C WAI recommends transcripts for audio and captions for audiovisual content, including important non-speech sounds; video transcripts should also communicate important visual content.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Writing for Web Accessibility — W3C WAI (opens in a new tab)W3C Web Accessibility Initiative · W3C WAI guidance for accessible page titles, headings, meaningful link text, text alternatives, transcripts/captions, clear instructions, and clear concise content.