Web²Access

Results for YouTube

Description

YouTube is a site that allows its users to upload videos that can be viewed by visitors. Users can comment on videos, as well as putting their responses into a separate video. The site is used for publishing a range of videos, including news items, sports events, music, etc. Users can also annotate their videos with labels or interactive items. Issues of accessibility have been discussed by the University of Washington web developers.

Accessibility Testing Results

YouTube is accessible as a site but their player is only usable with a keyboard in certain browsers such as Internet Explorer. Captions are only available if they have been added to the video prior to uploading and this can be achieved using a free service called CaptionTube . WebbIE copes with the navigation as do all other browsers but seems to fail to play chosen videos in text layout. Text sizes vary but contrast levels are good.

It is possible to use a different interface developed by Christian Heilmann for YouTube Videos making them more accessible. The download is on his blog.

#	Test	Score	Summary
1	Login, Signup and Other Forms Accessible		Forms on this site have some labels, but others are missing which may cause problems for some screenreaders. There is a Google login and a Captcha which has audio.
2	Image ALT Attributes		Most images have alternative text. Those which don't are not critical to understanding of the content.
3	Link Target Definitions		All links, including images which would otherwise be ambiguous, have titles to uniquely identify them.
4	Frame Titles and Layout		No frames or iframes, which can be disorientating for screen-readers, are used in the design.
5	Removal of Stylesheet		The page is still understandable and functional when it is viewed as a linear document, with no styles.
6	Audio/Video Features		Videos can have a text description set to appear next to the image, and text captions can be added to the video before uploading, although many videos lack this.
7	Video/animations - audio descriptions		Audio descriptions can be uploaded and we found a few examples such as one sample for a Channel 4 program.
8	Appropriate use of Tables		Some small tables are used for layout purposes. These may cause problems for some screenreaders.
9	Tab Orderings Correct and Logical		Tab order is in a logical and consistent top-to-bottom or left-to-right format.
10	Page Functionality with Keyboard		The YouTube player can be controlled with the keyboard, unless it is set to play in full screen mode which requires a pointing device to control video.
11	Accessibility of Text Editors		No rich text editor is used on this site.
12	Appropriate Feedback with Forms		The product provides suitable feedback when the user performs an action.
13	Contrast and Colour Check		No contrast issues other than small areas of non-critical text that have a poorer contrast ratio that may be uncomfortable for some users
14	Page Integrity when Zooming		The website maintains the layout and usability of all critical areas perfectly when zoomed.
15	Text size, style, blinking elements and Readability		The majority of text on the site is size ten, which is readable but may be uncomfortable for some. Sans-serif fonts are used.

Disability-Tailored Results

The following table shows how well the product performs for people with disabilities, as listed in the Disabilities section.

Percentages do not indicate how much of a site is accessible. They indicate the average figure of test results relevant to each disability. Select a disability to see which tests are relevant to it.

Activities you can do with YouTube

• Comments and Sharing Views
• Video Sharing
• Embeddable Content Generation
• Collections of specific items