ACT Rule e7aa44 · composite · proposed
Audio element content has text alternative
This is a composite rule, so it tests nothing itself. It takes the results of two other rules, one asking whether the audio has a transcript and one asking whether the audio is an alternative to text already on the page, and it passes when either of them passes.
A tool can find the places this applies and then hand you the decision. The rule is proposed, so it has not yet been implemented in full by a tool and reviewed by a W3C working group, and the wording can still change.
What passing this rule proves
When this rule fails, 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) is not satisfied, and that half is certain. When it passes, W3C's own outcome mapping says the criterion still needs further testing. So a green result here is evidence that one specific thing is not broken, and it is the answer W3C gives on 59 of its 87 live rules.
The composite is where the criterion gets decided, and neither input rule can decide it alone. Somebody still has to read the transcript against the recording. Machine transcripts are the expensive trap. They exist, they pass, and they get names, prices and technical terms wrong.
The criteria this rule is a test for
These are the criteria the rule names as its own conformance requirement. Each one is a far bigger question than this rule asks, and our page for it sets out what the whole criterion covers.
The rules this one combines
A composite rule runs no test of its own. It takes the outcomes of the atomic rules below and turns them into one answer, which is how W3C handles a criterion that can be met in more than one way. Not one of them maps to this criterion on its own.
- Audio element content has transcript A tool finds candidates, you decide
- Audio element content is media alternative for text A tool finds candidates, you decide
The normative rule text lives at W3C
What the rule applies to, and exactly what it expects, is published by W3C and can change. We link to it rather than restate it, so nothing here can quietly fall out of date against the source. Read rule e7aa44 at W3C.
Fixes that satisfy it
If this rule fails on your site, these are the techniques that put it right.
Other rules W3C files under the same criteria
Each of these asks a different question about the same part of the standard. Passing all of them is still not the same as satisfying the criterion.
- Video element visual-only content has accessible alternative A tool finds candidates, you decide
All 87 ACT rules are grouped by the criteria they test, and 24 of them decide nothing about WCAG on their own. Run a free scan to see which of these your own pages trip.