Three modes answer different questions
MDN describes disabled, hidden and showing modes. Disabled can leave the track listed while its cues are not being obtained. Hidden can keep cues active without displaying them. Showing enables the track's appropriate presentation. These are lifecycle states, not three levels of translation completeness.
Imagine a chapter interface that uses timed cues for navigation without placing chapter text over the picture. Active but hidden can be appropriate for that purpose. A viewer expecting captions, however, needs the relevant caption or subtitle track presented in the chosen interface, rather than merely present in the document.
Loading and rendering need separate evidence
For a missing caption report, first identify the selected track, its language label and whether the control stays selected. A developer can then inspect the mode, whether cues are available and which cues are active at the current position. A blank moment between cues is not a permanent rendering failure.
A hypothetical cue runs from second ten to fourteen. At second eight, no text from that cue should appear; at second twelve it may be active; after fourteen it should end. Checking only the opening logo of a programme can therefore miss perfectly functioning captions that begin with later dialogue.
Do not flatten browser differences
The page documents an additional Safari consideration for custom video controls. That detail should be checked against the actual implementation rather than converted into a promise that one markup change repairs all subtitle problems. Track kind, styling, source delivery and cue timing remain relevant.
If text is permanently baked into the video image, changing a browser text-track mode cannot remove it. Likewise, missing dialogue translation and invisible loaded captions are different editorial and rendering questions. Preserve a content position and the chosen track label so the next investigation can distinguish those cases without replacing every player setting at once.
Questions about this guide
Does hidden mean the cues are inactive?
No. A hidden track can remain active without being drawn.
Can a disabled track still appear in a list?
Yes. Presence in the track list does not establish that its cues have been loaded or displayed.