The Role of Website Design in Video Success

Video that is intensely interactive has grown in popularity, just as video use, in general, has continued to grow and advance. People now want to be able to engage directly with the video material as they would a text file or the internet. A significant component of this is how website design can further the success of your video content. 

WCAG defines time-based media as audio, video, or synchronized media that will run for a specified length. Examples include the audio of a speech or a webinar. Synchronized media is audio or video content that is joined by another presentation format.

Easy Video Viewing Through Website Design

The website design should be user-friendly and straightforward, by way of being:

Easy To Access

Viewers are not bumped off of a website, timed out or lose their place.

Easy To Navigate

Viewers are not denied access to previous pages and navigation menus are easy to locate and understand.

Easy To Search

Viewers can search within the page or video itself to locate precisely the topic needed, rather than having to scroll endlessly through information.

Available To Copy and Print

Viewers can easily copy and print the video transcript to use beyond the website.

Provide Graphics In Alt Text Format For SEO

Developers must also consider the use of non-text elements. This is crucial for making all graphics, sounds, and apps accessible to a wide variety of people.

Therefore, make sure that all graphics, whether they are images, sounds, movies, or apps, have Alt tags. This means that:

• All images, sounds, apps, graphics, and movies have descriptions in Alt attributes.
• The text descriptions accurately communicate the same content that is conveyed by the image, video, or audio file.

It is the designer’s responsibility to consider what information is being imparted through graphics. This information should be effectively and accurately conveyed through text.

For starters, search engines cannot crawl video or audio content, only text. A video or audio file must be transcribed into text and then that text must be embedded into the site HTML in order for the search engine – ie Google – to crawl, rank and index the content.

Transcription services can also provide keyword insights, which make defining a targeted SEO strategy much easier, as well as critical topic insights that the developer might otherwise overlook.

Website Design: Use Color and Contrast Intentionally

The use of color as a method of navigation or interaction is questionable. About 1 out of 12 men in the U.S. are color blind. Therefore, the website designer or content creator should evaluate the use of color and contrast in the video or image. It is a good idea to be sure that:

• Captions are displayed in a visible font color and size.
• Color is not used as a marker for text, buttons, or tasks.
• Test contrasts properly with background colors for transcript display or page design.
• Background patterns are carefully chosen for compatibility with fonts in the text.
• Fonts are simple, with clear distinction between numbers and letters.

Website Design: Remember Page Navigation

To make navigation consistent and accessible, the designer should:

• Use a consistent UI on all pages.
• Place options on the same part of the page each time.
• Reduce the amount of scrolling required.
• Confirm the page name immediately upon loading.

Transcribe All Audio

Beyond video files, the audio portion of any web content will need transcription in order to be captured by search engines. This can be made available in several ways:

• A transcript of the content.
• A description of multimedia elements, such as graphics.
• Closed captioning (which can be turned off).
• Open captioning (which are captions that stay on all the time).

Use Description of Sounds or Non-Dialogue Aspects of Video

Just as sound and graphics must be described and explained in text, sounds and scenes within video must also be described. A good description should:

• Provide the information communicated visually, with captions, and transcripts.
• Describe any action taking place
• Describe and explain settings.
• Describe any situations.
• Describe and identify characters and speakers.

The Role of Website Design In Video Success Conclusion

Designing your website is a critical step to having success with your video content. If your video content is displayed on your website, ensuring that it is accessible and appealing to audiences is an effective strategy that can lead to improved video performance. This may not necessarily apply if your video content is on third-party platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo. However, website design plays a key role in the success of your video content and must be carefully considered.

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