Bitmovin Player Accessibility

Understanding the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) serve as the international standard for accessible web content. The WCAG covers various content types; images, video, audio, text, user interface presentation and underlying code. It classifies accessibility into three levels: A, AA, and AAA, representing basic to advanced accessibility functionalities respectively.

Significance of WCAG for Video Content

Implementing accessibility features into a playback experience helps ensure content publishers aren't excluding any potential customers from their service, given that WHO reports that approximately 16% of the global population have at least one disability. Beyond just providing a good quality of experience to all viewers, accessibility features also improve SEO and ranking as it contributes greatly to user experience.

Bitmovin’s Player Accessibility

Bitmovin’s Player aligns with the WCAG guidelines to implement accessibility features and enables full compliance with these standards, offering a single player solution across major devices. Bitmovin’s Player, with its accessibility capabilities aligned with WCAG 2.1, provides features such as Subtitle and Captions, UI Styling, Text Track Styling, Styling of interactive elements and Navigational input.

Fully Customisable and Open-source Player UI Framework

Bitmovin’s Player UI available on Web, iOS and Android devices and can be fully customised to match customer requirements. Because of this extensive flexibility, developers are empowered to create unique but accessible user experiences for their viewers. Here are some examples of how the Bitmovin Player UI can be used to enable accessibility features:

• Subtitles and Captions: Includes video captions or subtitles, benefiting those with hearing impairments or cognitive disabilities, as well as viewers in diverse environments. Captions and Styling Demo
• UI styling: Allows customization of the user interface, addressing color contrast for viewers with color blindness or low contrast visibility. Player UI Styling Demo
• Text Track Styling: Ensures readability by adapting text color, font, size, and spacing, catering to those with low vision or cognitive disabilities.
• Styling of interactive elements: Outlines buttons and setting menus on the video player for improved visibility, aiding users in understanding selected options.
• Navigational Input: Bitmovin’s Player supports spatial navigation, enabling viewers to navigate between controls in the UI using the keyboard or other input devices (i.e. TV remote), necessary for viewers unable to use a mouse or with visual impairments.

Bitmovin’s Player has an extensive range of APIs to help our customers reach accessibility compliance in their viewer experience. For more information, please get in touch with our team.