Download Section 508 Compliant Video Player

Embed a Single Video

Would you like to embed YouTube® videos on your website? Would you like to ensure that your website viewers with disabilities have equal access to your video?

Business.gov has made its YouTube video player available to web managers who would like to embed YouTube videos on their website.  This video player follows the Section 508 Standards for web-based applications.

An example of this Section 508 compliant video player appears to the left.

Note: The following instructions are for embedding a single video on a page.  We also have instructions for embedding a playlist (group of videos).

Prerequisites

• The video must be uploaded to YouTube* prior to using the Section 508 compliant video player.
• The video must contain closed captioning (see YouTube's instructions for adding captions).

*Note: Government agencies may upload videos to YouTube by complying with the TOS agreement signed by GSA.

Features

• Keyboard Controls:  The user can control the video player transport buttons such as play, pause and volume with a keyboard.
  
• Text Controls (when styles are disabled): The user can control the video player transport buttons using a screen reader.
• Alternate Description:  If Javascript or Flash are disabled or not installed, the video player displays a description of the video and links to instructions for installing Javascript or Flash.

How to Use the Player on Your Site

To embed the 508 Compliant Video Player on a page with your video follow the following steps:

1. Step 1:

   Download this ZIP file that contains 508player.js and 508player.html, the files necessary to use the video player on your website.

2. Step 2:

   Load the JavaScript file, 508player.js, onto your web server.  The 508player.js file must be called by any page on which you use the video player.  The recommended method is to put the JavaScript call in the head of your page.  If you have questions on this step, please consult your website’s administrator.

3. Step 3:

   Locate the video you wish to embed on YouTube and copy the Video ID.  The Video ID appears in the URL of the page after watch?v=

   Note: the URL for your video might end with extra parameters:  &feature=...  If that is the case, do not include those parameters with the Video ID.  The Video ID will only consist of the code following watch?v= but before &feature=...

   For example, the ID of the YouTube video embedded on the top of this page is rvZwET2gwLU:
   

4. Step 4:

   Open the 508player.html file and replace VIDEO_ID on lines 6 & 10 with your YouTube Video ID.  On line 11, enter a brief description of your video's content.

5. Step 5:

   If desired, change the size of the player (in pixels) on line 7 of 508player.html. The video player embedded at the top of this page is a 320 x 258 (4:3 ratio small player).  The suggested size for a small widescreen player is 320 x 194.

6. Step 6:

   Now this code is ready to be pasted on any HTML web page!