Audio-only (Live)
Success Criterion 1.2.9 (Level AAA)

Question:

Are you providing text content as an alternative for the information conveyed by live audio?

Why is this Important?

Information in live audio, such as video conferencing, live speeches and radio webcasts, cannot be heard by someone with a severe hearing impairment. By providing a text alternative to the live audio content, people with these impairments will have full access to the information.

Whom does it benefit?

Example 1:

As a person who is deaf,
I want someone to provide live captioning of the conference presentation
so that I read what I cannot hear.

Example 2:

As a person who is hard of hearing and travels for my job,
I want access to live captioning for video conference meetings I have to join from noisy environments
so that I refer to the captions when background noise prevents me from hearing what other people in the meeting are saying.

What should you do?

  • Provide a real-time text alternative, such as live captions, for audio content.
  • If a live broadcast is based on a script, provide a link to download the script.

How do you do it?

  • Use a trained human operator, such as a CART (Communication Access Real-time Translation) vendor, who listens to what is being said and uses a special keyboard to type the dialogue into text. The text output is then relayed, with only a small delay, to the person who needs the alternative text.
  • Add a link to the transcript on the web page of the live event. Ensure that the link does not take the user away from the current page.

Need technical guidance?

Additional resources to help you: