Why is it suggested to add a link to a video instead of embedding one for ADA compliance?

Question

I've seen on many suggestions lists for ADA compliance that videos be linked instead of embedded (like here: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/web-designer/creating-an-ada-compliant-website/). I read that this was from the Department of Human Service, on top of the DOJ recommendations, but no where can I find the reason why this is best practice for increased accessibility.

Answer 1

Linking to videos instead of embedding them was never a requirement in the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0 or 2.0. The article you refer to dates from 2012, when embedded video players were typically based on Flash, and Flash often presented problems for keyboard users: in some browsers (e.g. Firefox), you could tab into the Flash animation/applet, but not out of it. Both WCAG 1.0 and WCAG 2.0 require that web content, including embedded content, should be keyboard accessible; WCAG 2.0 even explicitly mentions that there must be no keyboard trap.

If you provide a link to a video instead of embedding it, you avoid the keyboard trap issue that can be caused by Flash-based video players. Fortunately, there are many HTML5-based alternatives, including accessible video players, so that advice is somewhat dated now.

Answer 2

Linking to the video gives the user the choice to choose his own video player (according to his own requirement and custom preferences).