Sharing video is much more complicated that sharing images or documents. The files can be huge, file types are not consistent and viewers ability to play back the video varies widely depending on their specific device.
Sharing your video files directly on your website (uploading via ‘Add Media’) is not as sophisticated as using a video hosting service. It’s the difference between simple file sharing (uploading/downloading) or using a fully featured, intelligent streaming service. It doesn’t make much sense to share videos using the ‘Add Media’ button when there’s a more powerful, faster alternative that is free to use and that is also better for your viewers.
YouTube is the preferred way to share videos as their platform allows us to upload more quickly, to set privacy levels and gives a much better viewer experience, tailoring the video that is streamed to match the ability of your viewers’ device and connection. All this and we can still make the videos look like they are directly viewable in any page or post of our website (and the service is free – unlike trying to share our own video files which uses up lots of server resources!) It’s also important to note that if you are using video, to retain accessibility for the hard of hearing, you are required to provide a transcript or have captions on your video. YouTube adds captions automatically so you don’t have to.
Once you’ve used the YouTube system once or twice, you’ll find it quick and easy to use. To set up for the first time, follow these guides:
- Open a school YouTube Account
- Upload your Video to YouTube
- Embed a YouTube video in your page/post/event
Warning: If you upload video directly to your site (rather than using YouTube) you will encounter the following:
- Long upload times
- High bandwidth loads to the site which may slow it down
- Additional time involved in creating your own captions (subtitles) for the hard of hearing
- Financial cost to your school as hosting video uses lots of web space that will result in having to pay for a larger hosting package
Avoid adding video directly to your site. It’s far better to do it via YouTube instead