User Preferences

Use the following form to select your preferences. NOTE: You must have cookies enabled in your browser in order for your settings to be preserved across sessions.

Select a media player (consult the Media Player Comparison section below for a description of each)

JW FLV Player 4.6
JW FLV Player 4.5
YouTube

Check any of the following features that you would like to use:

Standard (Flash) version of player control buttons
Large font HTML version of player control buttons (play/pause, stop, etc.)
Closed captions Size (in points): 12 14 16 18 20 24 28 32 (JW FLV Player only)
Audio Description (NOTE: All YouTube videos are audio-described)
Closed Audio Description (if available) - Audio description is delivered as a separate MP3 file (JW FLV Player Only)
Include audio description in search results

Media Player Comparison

This web site provides choices for media players. Each of the players has its pros and cons. The differences are described below:

JW FLV Player 4.5

• Supports closed captions. Specify your desired font size for caption text using the above Preferences form. A transparent background, introduced in version 4.5, makes the captions easier to see.
• Includes support for screen reader users. All buttons on the media player control bar are verbalized by screen readers that support Flash accessibility. Additionally, the player can be controlled by HTML buttons.
• All controls are keyboard-accessible. However, in all browsers other than IE, accessing them requires a mouse click anywhere on the video player. The buttons immediately below the video player are standard HTML, not Flash, and these can therefore be selected in any browser without a mouse click.
• Closed autio description is supported for select videos. To sample this, you must have both the Audio Description and Closed Audio Description checkboxes checked in the above Preferences form. For an explanation of closed audio description and a list of videos that have this feature, see the FAQ. Note that currently, no audio description button is visible on the player controller bar. This button would allow users to toggle audio description on or off just like closed captions. It was available in earlier versions of JW FLV Player (up to versoin 3.16), and we are actively working on getting it back.

YouTube

The standard YouTube player is less accessible overall than the JW FLV Player. However, it has some accessibility features that make it worthy of inclusion here, despite its shortcomings. Google continues to update the player on a regular basis, and hopefully these upgrades will include accessibility improvements.

• Supports closed captions. To turn captions on, hover over the button in the lower right corner of the video player, then click the CC button. Note: This is not accessible without a mouse.
• Caption display can be customized with the following keystrokes after first giving the player focus (by clicking on it with a mouse, or tabbing to it in Internet Explorer:
  • To increase the text size, press the plus key (+)
  • To decrease the text size, press the minus key (-)
  • To turn on/off a dark transparent background behind the captions, press the letter B
• Supports automatic translation of captions into dozens of languages. This can be a huge selling point for persuading people to caption videos. To use this feature, hover over the button in the lower right corner of the video player. Then hover over the small arrow beside the CC button. A submenu will appear, from which you can select "Translate".
• The buttons immediately below the video player are standard HTML, not Flash, and these can therefore be selected in any browser without a mouse click. If you prefer using these buttons and would like to remove the standard controller bar, you can do this by unchecking the checkbox labeled "Standard (Flash) version of player control buttons" in the above Preferences form. Note: Some features, including the ability to turn on closed captions, are not currently available using the HTML buttons.