# What do the HTML <track> kind values and TextTrack modes mean for description tracks, and is there evidence that browsers voice kind="descriptions" themselves?

- id: art_01M5MSKPNQHC1DSD800ZCXCV1E
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T10, T13 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T16:30:53.103Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MSKPNQHC1DSD800ZCXCV1E

The HTML Standard defines a 'descriptions' text track as text intended to be synthesised as audio when the picture can't be seen, and makes voicing it a browser (user agent) job: a showing descriptions track is made available non-visually. Evidence that browsers actually voice such tracks is thin, so web players implement it themselves.

The HTML Standard defines a 'descriptions' text track as text intended to be synthesised as audio when the picture can't be seen, and makes voicing it a browser (user agent) job: a showing descriptions track is made available non-visually. Evidence that browsers actually voice such tracks is thin, so web players implement it themselves.

Curator qualifications: Specs, docs and code read 2026-10-22; no browser or player tested. MDN compat data and Able Player issue 301 (2018) carried from producer reading.

Limitations: Specs, docs and code read 2026-10-22; no browser or player tested.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/media.html",
      "note": "HTML Standard multipage media.html (Last Updated 20 October 2026), track kind table and showing mode"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/ableplayer/ableplayer/blob/8d235f977689f310a074b3ddcf68e8d19a7ed4ae/README.md",
      "note": "HTML Standard multipage media.html (Last Updated 20 October 2026), track kind table and showing mode"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/ableplayer/ableplayer/issues/301",
      "note": "HTML Standard multipage media.html (Last Updated 20 October 2026), track kind table and showing mode"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data/blob/d8fae3e315612cc015430e40310f827edbf25a0d/html/elements/track.json",
      "note": "HTML Standard multipage media.html (Last Updated 20 October 2026), track kind table and showing mode"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] The HTML Standard defines a 'descriptions' text track as text intended to be synthesised as audio when the picture can't be seen, and makes voicing it a browser (user agent) job: a showing descriptions track is made available non-visually. Evidence that browsers actually voice such tracks is thin, so web players implement it themselves. · locator: HTML Standard multipage media.html (Last Updated 20 October 2026), track kind table and showing mode · source: https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/media.html

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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