Today, we’re super excited to announce updates to our player and our app to help make your videos more accessible to everyone. These updates align with WCAG AA 2.1 guidelines and offer a better, more accessible experience across all devices.

More accessible video player
We’ve updated our player to increase the opacity of the control buttons and eliminated the transparency of the progress bar, which will make a big difference in the experience for those with limited or low vision. Plus, our new default player is designed to work well with screen readers and other assistive tools right out of the gate.

To give everyone some time to get used to the updated player, we’re giving early, opt-in access to the new, more accessible player starting January 14, 2020. After that, starting on March 31, 2020, we’ll move everyone over to the new version. So, if you can’t wait to switch to the new player, all you need to do is:

Head to “Settings” under the “Account” tab.
Select “Beta Features” from the right-hand column.
Then, check the box for “Player Accessibility and UI Updates.”

In-app checklist to make accessibility part of your workflow
We’ve also built an easy-to-use checklist right in the app to make accessibility a seamless part of your workflow. Now, on every video, under “Customize,” you’ll find a comprehensive list of accessibility features to apply, with each one turning green once you’ve completed the action. Aligned with WCAG AA 2.1 guidelines, all of the features can be enabled right from the checklist, making your accessibility efforts streamlined and visible to everyone on your team.