OU Media PlayerA joint IET, KMi, LTS, DSS, OMU project

January 2011-June 2012

N.D.Freear, SeGA 3 April 2012The Open University

The problem

● Lot's of OU web 'assets' - OUVLE, OpenLearn, Study at OU, OU-Drupal, Platform, research blogs, Cloudworks...

● Each site/ developer finds their own 'solution'● Different user experiences, branding, levels

of accessibility...● Plus, a support/ maintenance problem...● HTML5 anyone?

The good... Easy YouTube 2008

Who else is doing 'this'?● 'Easy YouTube', 2008 Flash icant.co.uk/easy-youtube● christianheilmann.com/2008 ../video-captioning-made-easy-

with-the-youtu..● 2009 Flash, Maltwiki.org● Universal subtitles, www.universalsubtitles.org● ...● YouTube HTML5, www.youtube.com/html5 ● ODI player, 2011 Flash* odicatalogue.co.uk● Nomensa, 2011-12 Flash* nomensa.com/ ..-open-source-

accessible-media-..● 2012 Flash* edu.mwjt.co.uk/access-youtube-new-webs..● ...

(New to me, wac.osu.edu/examples/jwpc )

..the odd... 'ODI' player 2011

Who else? part 2

Questions:● * Why Flash-only in 2011/12?● Start from scratch?● Is it flexible? (ODI)● Are they open-source? Can we/ others build

upon?● Or, HTML5 media libraries - the same

mistakes again?

Our approach

● Don't "start from scratch"● Build on existing components, including

open source● Hopefully, contribute back to the community

- code/ patches/ knowledge...

The 'solution'

● A common, embeddable player● *Easy to embed● OU podcast infrastructure (+YouTube...)● Service/iframe-based embeds● oEmbed www.oembed.com● HTML5 + Flash + Javascript + CSS● OU brand● Variants (3): OU Podcast/public, OUVLE,

OpenLearn● ...

The 'solution', part deux

● Unobtrusive accessibility● Mobile/ tablet support● Themable● Internationalized● Performance● ...● Maintenance - only '1' player needs

upgrading

January-July 2011

● "Attempt 1"● Based on Flowplayer - open source Flash

libraries● Flash 'falling back' to HTML5● Two "chunky" designs● Senior management "surprised" - too big for

the VLE● Bugs in design/ CSS● No fullscreen (there is a "popout" player)

Used in Cloudworks

2011 'ouice dark'

2011 'ouice light'

January-June 2012

● "Version 2" - deployment plan● Based on Mediaelement.js● HTML5 falling back to Flash● But, Flash is not "2nd-class" citizen● Compact, less obtrusive design● With Fullscreen - yay!

...and the pretty OU player light 2012

Where do I fit in?

● The player will be easy for content authors to use - we hope!

● No change to authoring practice in SA/ VLE● Player fairly easy for developers to integrate

● Accessibility practitioners - communicate the philosophy

● APs - help close the feedback loop● APs - translation contacts● ..?● Watch this space!

Roadmap

● Mid-April 2012 - technical test● May - accessibility/ user-test● June - OUVLE release● June/July - OpenLearn, OU-Drupal...● June/July - documentation● June/July - hand over to LTS...● June/July - Mediaelement.js patches...

Questions

● Open source - if, when?● Stable versus innovative - how?● LTS support + IET contributions - how?● WebM encoding - when?

Challenges

● Many stakeholders● Many contexts● Audio + video● Mobile debugging● First impressions count!● Tech. test, Access. test, test, test...● Finding time to communicate, as well as

code

Links

● OU player prototype, iet-embed-acct.open.ac.uk ../oup/test.html

● Blogs, freear.org.uk ../ou-media-player-project● http://freear.org.uk/content/ou-embed-proposal● Watch this space! http://embed.open.ac.uk