The screen grab above illustrates my query which is why in-line videos such as this have to be obscured by captions and controls? As you can see it doesn't work very well and is increasingly annoying.

I am not a designer or programmer but am familiar with wordpress. My question is why can not the video be in its own frame/window with space below within an overall window to place controls, captions and so on? I remember the complaints just a couple of years ago when designers plastered "Press ESC to exit full screen" right in the middle of the video. I too complained and received a very sniffy reply from a designer who clearly didn't live in the real world. Well he turned out to be a dinosaur and everyone started being a bit more sensible by placing the prompt at the top and far smaller. although to be honest why does anyone need that prompt anyway?

 

I would be grateful for an answer as to whether this is some sort of relic from the old days or if there is some technical reason, or if it is just designers being bloody minded!

 

I depends on the video player being used and how it's configured. By default when a video starts playing control will normally automatically hide after a couple of seconds, if you mouseover the video (or tap on a mobile device) the controls will reappear.

Most video players have configurations options that allow the designer to dictate how the controls are displayed, in your example it could be that these are set for controls to be always visible rather than auto hide.

Sorry you have missed my point. LOL. WHY do the captions obscure the video? WHY, even if only for two seconds, do the controls have to obscure the video? Can I put it any clearer?😀

Well you need controls there to start/stop the video, adjust volume, or use the scrubber.

As for captions, if they are added to the video itself then that's been done by the video author and you can't remove them. On the other hand if captions are added conventionally via and external text file then you should be able to turn them on/off to suit your needs using whatever controls have been enabled - the "cc" button on the video I'd assume is for "closed captioning".

15 hours ago, BlueDreamer said:

Well you need controls there to start/stop the video, adjust volume, or use the scrubber.

Erm no, you need them in the frame *below* the video as a package. It is clear I've come to the wrong forum. I'd hoped the people who actually code this sort of stuff were here and could clear this up for me. Thanks anyway.

It might be what you want but it’s not going to happen. Millions of dollars have been invested in the current format. They aren’t going to change what works fort most people.

This is just the design of the video player, it obviously works for the majority of users since the likes of Netflix and Youtube have the same style of video player. There's nothing stopping you creating your own video player where the controls sit below the video instead of on top.

Thanks for that explanation. So it is just a design decision not a technical issue? All websites such as BBC and Sky new also use this design so I thought it was a must-do. Do you remember the ludicrous notice plastered over the video telling you to press ESC to exit full screen? Some person, somewhere, a real living human being, must have made that decision originally. Did no one question it? Did no one wonder if it was needed? Eventually the public began to complain and now the notice is still there but more discrete and smaller. But still superimposed over the video itself.

It's the fact that real people, designers, create this video player standard and actually think it is a good plan, that gets to me. Sorry for being rude or obstreperous but finding the person who came up with this is my goal and when I find him I'll string him up! LOL.  🙂

"Do you remember the ludicrous notice plastered over the video telling you to press ESC to exit full screen" and how else is a user to know how to escape full screen? why do you find it ludicrous?  
edit: if you think about it, it's the same concept as a HUD (head up display) initially developed for pilots (i think) where important controls and information are overlaid on the main display. A lot of research must have been done to ensure this provided the necessary information without distracting them enough to crash  also video controls are quite like gaming controls - with a bottom panel with info and other controls there and some overlays (think Starcraft II, etc.)

Edited January 22, 20206 yr by davep

Yes ludicrous because a) the user knows that it is full screen because he pressed the full screen button and doesn't need to be told it is now full screen like a little child and b) because if he can open the viewer he knows how to escape full screen and c) he isn't blind so why so large and clunky?

In the screengrab I posted, the captioning totally obscured the item it was describing! Constantly. At no point did we get an unobstructed view.

Does anyone seriously contend that captions are better placed over the video than below it? At least Amazon videos allow you to adjust the size and colour of captions. That is progress.

It’s not ludicrous at all. It’s a proven method that works.

It’s  just you don’t like it.

38 minutes ago, fisicx said:

It’s not ludicrous at all. It’s a proven method that works.

It's also related to the history of film; how captions were originally applied directly to the film strips: https://www.transedit.se/history.htm

It's now what people are familiar-with.

...and one thing we can rely on with Hollywood, is that when they've got a formula that works, they'll stick to it! Yes, we could try something new but who's gonna take that risk..? 😄

OK so I'll leave with this thought and please take it in the light hearted way I intend:

How many web designers does it take to mend a lightbulb?

None. There's nothing wrong with it. It's been like that for years.

Ta ta -:)