There are two general types of video you can add to a Shorthand story: foreground and background video. Foreground video can be added to the following locations:
Inline within a text block in multiple section types
Media section - full screen
Grid section - inside grid cards
Foreground video can include sound, video controls, and by default must be played by the reader, though can also be configured to auto-play and loop.
Background video has neither sound nor controls, and is always set to auto-play on loop (though can be paused by the reader if a pause toggle is enabled by the story editor from the story settings).
Adding foreground video
In the edit media panel you can upload a foreground video from the Video tab, or use a video hosted with a third-party service such as YouTube by adding the URL from the Rich Embed tab. Each of these options allow captions to be added to the video.
Edit media button
Upload video form
Rich Embed form
If your plan allows you to add custom code, you can also add third-party video by using embed codes via custom HTML blocks.
Options and specifications for uploaded videos
If you choose to upload a video, you have the option of adding a single video that will be used on both large screens (those wider than 900px) and small screens (narrower than 900px, such as vertical phones) or providing different video files: one for large screens, and one for small screens.
There are a number of reasons why you may wish to supply different videos for different device sizes: such as to ensure that even on a smaller and narrower screen the main subject of the video is clearly identifiable and/or that text embedded in the video is scaled and positioned well in both formats.
Foreground video orientation (landscape or portrait) does not need to match the device orientation. You could, for instance, show the same or different 'landscape' format video on both large and small screens.
If you choose to upload only a single video, it will be shown on both large and small screens. It is not necessary to provide videos for each device.
Video player settings
You can configure how uploaded foreground videos look and behave from the video player settings toggles, which are accessed from the menu at the top of the video in the body of the story editor.
Set to autoplay - Defaults to off. When enabled, the video will play automatically, and if the video includes sound it will be muted until the user changes it.
Loop video - Defaults to off. When enabled, the video restarts automatically once it ends. Often used with autoplay enabled, but it can be used independently to effectively make the video autoplay after the user has manually played it.
Show video controls - Defaults to on. When enabled, the video player will show common video controls, and you may customise which of the following controls are shown. When disabled, the video will be permanently muted and all video controls will be hidden, although a user can still pause the video by selecting it.
Show volume controls - Defaults to on. Shows volume slider and mute controls. If disabled, a mute control may still show within the 3 dot menu.
Show video timeline - Defaults to on. Shows the video timeline so readers can see their progress and skip to different parts of the video. This may be automatically hidden at smaller video sizes.
Show restart button - Defaults to on. Allows the reader to quickly restart the video. If autoplay is enabled and the video has sound, it will restart the video with sound on, even though it starts muted.
Note: In addition to the configurable video player control options above, there are other controls like fullscreen, playback speed, picture-in-picture, airplay/cast that may automatically be included when Show video controls is enabled. Many of these additional controls will only be accessible from the 3 dot menu.
Video file requirements:
In text blocks (where the video sits within a column of text): 900 x 507px is sufficient,
In Media sections (where the video is the dominant feature): 1920 x 1080px for 'landscape' format video and 900 x 507px for 'portrait' format video is sufficient for a clear picture. Smaller sizes of the same aspect ratio will work, but may appear less clear,
Supported video type,
100mb MAX (much smaller if possible), and
Poster image - must be JPG (same dimensions as the video).
Optimal video sizes (for users viewing your story on a typical 3G internet connection, estimated at 3.5Mbps download speed) see our video encoding guidlines
Video subtitles:
Shorthand does not automatically generate subtitles, though they can be added to foreground video to benefit those who cannot hear the audio, and/or to provide additional on-screen information.
One subtitle file may be added to each uploaded video version, and can be in the WebVTT (.vtt) or SubRip (.srt) format and up to 5 MB in file size.
If you are using both standard and audio-described videos, they should each have a distinct subtitle file, matched to their soundtrack and timing. An audio-described video requires that its narration is included in the video soundtrack rather than as a separate audio file.
Adding subtitles:
To add subtitles to a video, click the "SUBTITLES" button at the bottom of the video thumbnail in its media modal:
A new box appears, into which a subtitle file can be placed from your computer:
After adding a subtitle file, give it a name and choose from the list which language it is written in (these both help screen readers and human readers to identify the content), then click DONE:
To change or remove subtitles, re-open the same panel into which the subttile was added, and click the red trash icon (shown above), then add a new subtitle file if required.
Subtitles for different screen sizes:
If you provide different videos for large and small screens, check that the subtitles match each version’s dialogue and timing. You can upload a separate subtitle file for each screen size, for both standard and audio-described videos.
When subtitles are supplied for only one screen size, they are also used for the other. If your videos use different edits, add matching subtitles to both.
Viewing subtitles
Readers can open the video player’s three-dot menu and select Captions to turn subtitles on or off. To ensure your readers can access this menu, keep Show video controls enabled.
Subtitles within Media Gallery videos
Subtitles appear for videos within Media Gallery sections only when readers click to expand a single video, and not when the full gallery is shown. If your Media Gallery has video with subtitles, check the section settings and enable the "EXPAND ON CLICK" option.
Audio-described video
Shorthand supports adding an audio-described alternate version of videos. This is intended for a videos that contain an embedded spoken narration explaining visual information, such as actions, expressions or text on screen. It aids vision-impaired readers to follow what happens in a video.
You'll see the option to add an audio-described version of the video ad the bottom of the media modal:
Clicking this will expand the modal to allow for two new uploads of audio-described video: one for large screens, and one for small. Both are optional.
The accepted file formats are the same as those for other foreground video, and the audio-described versions do not need to be the same length as the 'standard' versions.
It is also possible to add text subtitles to the audio-decribed video : an important point to remember if the standard video has subtitles, as these will not be shared with teh audi-described version to accommodate for the fact that they may be of different length or be otherwise editied differently.
WIthin a story, your readers can find the audio-described version of the video by clicking the three-dot menu:
Ensure that "Show video controls" is enabled for the video so that readers have access to this menu.
For Media Gallery videos, enable Expand on click in the section settings. Readers must open the expanded player to access the audio-description version of the video.