Skills for Access

Why this is important

A mouse is often assumed as being essential to control and interact with a multimedia resource. Yet some people may have difficulty using a mouse, or may be unable to use a mouse and thus use an alternative input device such as a switching device, joystick or gesture-recognition device. Others may be using a device that does not have a mouse, or are using a mouse that doesn't work very well. So to be optimally accessible, media content (and the players required to access the content) need to be operable without relying on the use of a mouse as an input device.

General Principles

To ensure keyboard-accessible media, basic functions such as starting, stopping, pausing, fast-forward and rewind; and controls affecting audio and visual properties should all be operable via the keyboard. Accessibility options such as toggling audio-descriptions and captions, or selecting a language for captions should also be keyboard-accessible, particularly if you do not want them available or enabled as a default setting.

In theory, this should be beyond the scope of the provider of the media played by the player; but in practice though, there are significant accessibility problems associated with each of the three main media players (QuickTime, Real and Windows Media Player). Since for most multimedia content, access to the media requires use of a third party media player, this means that as a developer, you must be aware of these access problems when considering how to provide media content within your e-learning resources.

Before you continue

The advice on this page helps you avoid introducing a specific accessibility barrier, but it's not a magic formula. To avoid attempting to follow a technical solution that is not appropriate to the resource and its intended purpose, you need to know the context in which the multimedia resource is being used:

1. The purpose or aim of the multimedia resource in question, and whether it is being used to supplement another resource in the learning environment, or whether its use is required by students.
2. The target audience, their knowledge and expectations, and the type of browsing and assistive technology that they may be using.
3. Whether the information and experiences provided by the multimedia technology are already available in an equivalent, alternative form.

For more background on this approach, see our Guide to the use of multimedia in accessible e-learning.

Technique Details

Designers providing video and audio content in an e-learning resource can choose between:

1. embedding the media within a web page, and

2. providing it as a file that is played in a stand-alone player

Both methods have attractions and advantages; but also have accessibility implications. Unfortunately the issue of keyboard access to media content, in particular accessibility features of media content, remains a thorny issue and detailed resources are hard to find on overcoming the problems inherent in current players.

In 2003, WebAIM tested the accessibility of a number of popular media players, in both embedded and standalone form, in terms of keyboard and screen-reader accessibility. Their findings can be summarised as:

• Embedded versions of Real Player 8 Basic, Real One Basic, Windows Media Player 7 and 9 were impossible to use with the keyboard alone (and were also inaccessible to screen reader users)

• Embedded and standalone versions of QuickTime Player 5 and 6, and Real Player 8 Basic, were moderately accessible.

• Standalone versions of Real One Basic, Windows Media Player 7 and 9 reached a high level of keyboard-accessibility.

An additional problem is that for QuickTime, many accessibility functions are only available in the QuickTime Pro Player - which at the time of writing is not free. For users unable or unwilling to purchase QuickTime Pro, some accessibility options may thus be beyond reach.

It is possible to program additional functionality to make up for some of the keyboard-access deficiencies of embedded media players, but these generally use technologies that cannot be assumed will work under all browsing circumstances. For example, with QuickTime, NCAM describes a way in which controls can be added by the developer to provide explicit functions to toggle captions and audio descriptions, and these can be assigned keyboard shortcuts. NCAM has created QuickTime control elements available for download from their web site (see Related Sites).

JavaScript could also be used to capture keystrokes and apply them to control the embedded media, but an explicit listing of the necessary keyboard shortcuts will also be required on the page containing the media. In general, providing a link to a list of keyboard shortcuts associated with your media player of choice is a useful aid for users who may be unfamiliar with these.

Testing

Whether you provide media embedded in a web page or for playing in stand-alone format, make sure that at least the following basic controls are keyboard-accessible: play, stop, pause, fast forward, rewind, plus accessibility options, in particular switching captions and audio descriptions on and off. Check also that you have linked to - or provided - a list of keyboard shortcuts for the media player in question.