Low Adoption of <track> Element

[yashrajbharti]

What is the issue with the HTML Standard?

Inaccessibility of Web Videos Due to Low <track> Adoption

Only 0.5% of web videos include a <track> tag (Web Almanac 2024 Report), leaving the vast majority of online video content inaccessible for individuals who rely on captions.

Impact

• Excludes people with hearing impairments, non-native speakers, and others who benefit from captions.
• Undermines accessibility standards on the web, which aim to make content inclusive by default.

Why This Matters

The <track> element was introduced to provide captions, but its low adoption highlights significant barriers for developers, such as:

• Lack of awareness or knowledge about the <track> element.
• Additional effort required to create and manage caption files.
• Limited incentives for publishers to prioritize captions.

Gap in the Standard

The standard does not currently address how browsers or user agents might provide fallback mechanisms for captions when no <track> is present. This gap leaves accessibility largely dependent on content authors, which is not a scalable or equitable solution.