Overview
Yes, in most cases. If a product video includes narration, dialogue, or important audio information, WCAG 2.1 AA requires captions for prerecorded video with audio. This is a Perceivable requirement, the same WCAG principle that covers alt text, and it is one of the most commonly overlooked areas on ecommerce sites, since most accessibility checklists focus on images and forms instead of video.
Which WCAG criteria actually apply
Captions for prerecorded video (1.2.2). Any prerecorded video with audio content, like a spoken product demo or unboxing narration, needs synchronized captions at WCAG 2.1 AA.
Audio description or a media alternative (1.2.3 / 1.2.5). If the video shows something visually important that is not described in the audio, like a size comparison shown only on screen, it needs either audio description or a text alternative that conveys the same information.
No unexpected autoplay with sound (1.4.2). A video that autoplays with audio on page load can be disorienting for screen reader users, since it competes with and can drown out their assistive technology. WCAG requires a way to pause, stop, or mute it.
What this means for product videos specifically
A silent product spin video with no narration and no meaningful audio generally does not need captions, since there is no audio content to caption. A size-guide video where a narrator explains measurements out loud absolutely does, since a deaf or hard-of-hearing shopper otherwise gets none of that information. The test is simple: if removing the sound would remove real information, captions or a text alternative are required.
The quick fix path
Most captioning tools can auto-generate a first draft from a video’s audio track, which then needs a human review pass, since auto-captions reliably misspell product names and technical terms. For stores that already produce a video script before filming, that same script usually works as the caption source directly, skipping the auto-generation step and its error rate entirely.
An alternative to full captioning is a text transcript published alongside the video, which meets the same underlying requirement for some content types, though captions are the stronger choice whenever a shopper is likely to watch with sound off, which describes most mobile browsing.
Example
A supplement brand’s best-converting product page included a 90-second founder video explaining dosage and usage. An audit flagged it as a Perceivable failure since the video had no captions and no transcript. The brand added captions using its existing script as the source, a same-day fix, and saw no measurable change in conversion, meaning the fix cost nothing in performance while closing a real compliance gap.
Common mistake
Assuming video accessibility is a separate, optional category from the rest of a WCAG audit. It is not. It falls under the same Perceivable principle as image alt text and gets tested and cited the same way in a real accessibility audit. A store can fix every image and form issue on its site and still fail an audit entirely on uncaptioned video.