MediaPlayer

Video player with controls over the frame, after streaming players: an optional title at the top left, the time remaining over a hairline progress line with a hover frame preview, and volume, back and forward 10 s, play, captions and full screen. Controls fade while playing and return on pointer, keyboard focus or pause.

Status: beta. Group: media. Markdown version: /design-system/components/media-player.md

When to use

MediaPlayer plays a single video with controls that match the site instead of the browser default. The Garage Junction case study plays its radio spot through it on the radio blue with controlsPosition="below", so the card's own blue band runs on into the section. Pages rebrand it with the --media-player-* custom properties in theming.vars, for example --media-player-backdrop and --media-player-ink on a brand surface.

When not to use

Do not use it for background or decorative loops without sound; use a muted autoplay video instead.
Do not use it for audio-only media; it is built around a video frame.

Look-alikes

The contract names no look-alike with a deciding condition.

Props

MediaPlayer props
Prop	Type	Default	Description	Required
`sources`	`MediaPlayerSource[]`	none	Media files in order of preference; the browser plays the first it supports.	Yes
`label`	`string`	none	Accessible name of the media, such as "Garage Junction radio spot".	Yes
`title`	`string`	none	Title shown over the top left of the frame with the controls.	No
`subtitle`	`string`	none	Second line under the title, such as an artist or a date.	No
`poster`	`string`	none	Still image shown before playback starts.	No
`descriptionId`	`string`	none	Id of an element that describes the media; set as aria-describedby on the video.	No
`preload`	`"none" \| "metadata" \| "auto"`	`metadata`	How much to load before playback.	No
`controlsPosition`	`"overlay" \| "below"`	`overlay`	Where the controls sit: over the bottom of the frame on a scrim, or below it, always visible, for artwork whose bottom edge must stay clear.	No
`hideSeekPreview`	`boolean`	`false`	Hide the frame preview shown above the progress line on mouse hover. The preview loads its own copy of the media on first hover.	No
`children`	`ReactNode`	none	Optional <track> elements; captions or subtitles add a captions toggle.	No

Variants

Allowed controlsPosition values: overlay, below (default overlay).
Allowed preload values: none, metadata, auto (default metadata).

Invalid combinations

The contract records no invalid combinations.

Keyboard

MediaPlayer keyboard behaviour
Key	Behaviour
Tab	Moves through the playback slider, mute, volume, back, play, forward, captions (when a track exists) and full screen.
General	On the playback slider, Left and Right arrows move 5 s, Page Up and Page Down move 10 s, Home and End jump to the ends.
Enter or Space	Activates a button.
General	The overlay controls never fade while one of them has keyboard focus; under reduced motion they never fade.

Rules

Every item under When not to use is a MUST NOT. MUST and SHOULD follow RFC 2119.

MediaPlayer rules
Level	Rule	How it is checked
MUST	ARIA: The video is named by label and described by descriptionId when given.	Not yet verified: no evidence record. WCAG 4.1.2.
MUST	ARIA: Controls sit in a group named after the media, such as "Radio spot controls" (translated).	Not yet verified: no evidence record. WCAG 4.1.2.
MUST	ARIA: Play and mute name the action they will take next; back and forward name the jump; the captions toggle reports aria-pressed.	Not yet verified: no evidence record. WCAG 4.1.2.
MUST	ARIA: The playback slider reports its position in words through aria-valuetext, such as 0:05 of 0:34; the volume slider reports a localised percentage.	Not yet verified: no evidence record. WCAG 4.1.2.
MUST	ARIA: Back and forward announce the new position through a polite live region.	Not yet verified: no evidence record. WCAG 4.1.2.
MUST	Required stories produce no axe violations at the configured severity.	Automated by `npm run test:stories:matrix:ci`. WCAG 2.5.8.
MUST	The accessibility tree (role, name, state) matches the committed snapshot for every required story.	Automated by `npm run test:stories:matrix:ci`. WCAG 1.3.1, 4.1.2.
MUST	The component remains legible and operable under a real browser forced-colors: active pass.	Automated by `npm run test:stories:hc`.
MUST	Every documented keyboard interaction works as specified.	Not yet verified: no evidence record. WCAG 2.1.1, 2.1.2.
MUST	A human completed an end-to-end accessibility review of this component.	Manual review, last on 2026-11-01.
SHOULD	Name the media with label and link a visible description or caption with descriptionId.	Not stated in the contract.
SHOULD	Pass caption tracks as <track kind="captions"> children whenever the video has speech; the captions toggle appears with them.	Not stated in the contract.
SHOULD	Use controlsPosition="below" when the artwork's bottom edge carries content, such as a band or a mark, that the overlay would cover.	Not stated in the contract.
SHOULD	On a brand backdrop set --media-player-backdrop, and check that the ink keeps 4.5:1 for text and 3:1 for glyphs against it.	Not stated in the contract.
SHOULD NOT	Do not autoplay it; playback starts from the play control.	Not stated in the contract.
SHOULD NOT	Do not lighten --media-player-muted-ink on a mid-tone backdrop; the time remaining is text and needs 4.5:1.	Not stated in the contract.

Install and import

Install: npm install @digitaltableteur/react (version 0.9.1, restricted access on npm).
Import: import { MediaPlayer } from "@digitaltableteur/react";
Entry point: @digitaltableteur/react/content exports it too.
Styles: import @digitaltableteur/react/style.css once at the app boundary.