Check audio has a transcript

Why it matters

Deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors cannot follow a podcast episode, interview or recorded talk without a text version. A transcript also helps people who cannot play sound where they are, people who read faster than they listen, and search engines, which cannot hear the audio either.

Who it affects: Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, screen reader users whose speech is drowned out by audio, and people with vestibular or attention disorders affected by motion.

What Lumtera flags

Audio blocks and <audio> players without a captions or subtitles track, and embeds from audio and podcast services such as SoundCloud, Mixcloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify episodes and shows (not music), Buzzsprout, Libsyn, Podbean, Simplecast, Captivate and Transistor — when the word "transcript" does not appear in the player's caption, the elements beside it, or the links nearby. Lumtera cannot hear the recording, so each one is a review item.

Check ID audio-no-transcript — use it to filter the content report or with wp lumtera issues --rule.

How to fix it in WordPress

Publish a text transcript of the recording: everything that is said, who says it, and any important sounds. Put it right below the player, or link to it with text that includes the word "transcript". Music with no spoken words does not need one; dismiss this item in that case.

Example

<figure class="wp-block-audio">
  <audio controls src="episode-12.mp3"></audio>
  <figcaption>Episode 12: Opening a café</figcaption>
</figure>

<figure class="wp-block-audio">
  <audio controls src="episode-12.mp3"></audio>
  <figcaption>Episode 12: Opening a café</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="/podcast/episode-12-transcript/">Read the episode 12 transcript</a></p>

How to check your fix

1. Update the post. The issue disappears from the Accessibility sidebar on the next check, and from the site report on the next scan.
2. Play the page with the sound off, then with a screen reader on. Speech should be captioned, nothing should play sound by itself, and anything that moves should be stoppable.