Accessibility

Understand.com targets WCAG 2.2 Level AA for its video player experience. We aim to provide a media player that is usable by people with a wide range of abilities and assistive technologies, including keyboard navigation, screen readers, captions, and transcripts.

Key areas we focus on:

  • Keyboard accessibility

    Core player actions can be reached and operated by keyboard. Users can tab through controls, activate buttons with Enter or Space, and use shortcuts for common playback actions:

    • M to toggle mute/unmute
    • F to toggle fullscreen
    • C to toggle captions
    • Number keys 1-9 to jump to animation chapters
  • Screen reader support

    Icon-only controls include descriptive accessible names, such as “Like video,” “Share video,” “View transcript,” “Mute video,” and “Enter fullscreen.” Where controls have a selected or expanded state, ARIA attributes are used to communicate that state.

  • Caption support

    Captions are available for all animations. The player exposes a captions control and supports toggling captions on or off.

  • Transcript access

    Transcripts are available for all animations. Users can open a transcript view through an accessible control.

  • Chapter navigation

    Video chapters are exposed as keyboard-accessible controls. Users can tab to chapter markers and activate them to jump to the corresponding point in the video.

  • Focus management

    Interactive overlays, dialogs, and controls are designed to avoid trapping users unexpectedly or exposing hidden controls in the tab order.

  • Visible focus indicators

    Keyboard-focusable controls include visible focus styling so users can understand where they are on the page.

  • Pointer and touch support

    Controls are designed to work across desktop and mobile devices. Touch and pointer interactions are reviewed alongside keyboard behavior.

  • Respect for embedded contexts

    Because the player is commonly embedded on websites, accessibility work focuses on the player’s own controls, labels, states, captions, transcript access, and keyboard behavior.

Accessibility is part of our product maintenance process. We review player changes against WCAG 2.2 AA expectations, test keyboard behavior, verify screen reader output, and continue refining the experience across desktop, mobile, and embedded use cases.