Module 7: Checkpoint 10—Long videos

Conformance: Mandatory

Requirements

Long videos (over 10 minutes in length) must:

  • use progressive buffering

or

  • be available in sections (including a full version).

Benefits of conformance

  • Access for users on slower connections.

Risks of non-conformance

  • User frustration.
  • Poor user experience.

Implementation advice

More information

Agencies should ensure that the technology is available to deliver video successfully. It should also be recognised that the larger the video file, the more bandwidth is required to play or download the video.

Providing a large video in both a full version and in individual smaller files (either embedded or as links) provides users the choice of viewing embedded video or downloading video files. This can be valuable to:

  • People with slow internet connections who don't want to wait for the larger video file to load.
  • People who pay for bandwidth usage who don't want to pay to view or download the larger video file.

These issues are most often experienced by users of mobile devices, dial up internet, some wireless internet connections and some other low-bandwidth broadband connections.