# 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
- Page: https://www.digitaltableteur.com/design-system/components/media-player
- Contract: https://www.digitaltableteur.com/contracts/v1/MediaPlayer.contract.json

## 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

| 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

| 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.

| 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.

## Links

- Machine-readable contract (Design System Contract 1.0): https://www.digitaltableteur.com/contracts/v1/MediaPlayer.contract.json
- Markdown version of this page: https://www.digitaltableteur.com/design-system/components/media-player.md
- Component index as JSON: https://www.digitaltableteur.com/design-system/components.json
- All components: https://www.digitaltableteur.com/design-system/components
- Source: The implementation lives in a private repository. This page, its Markdown twin and the contract are generated from it at build time and are the public source of truth.