Up until this point, the only option for search accessible video has been to use SWFObject or something like it that utilizes javascript to swap in the video content when flash is detected. The video is swapped into a container that by default holds content (HTML, images, et cetera) that act as alternate content should the user not have flash or javascript enabled. It also, when done properly, provides that alternate content to search engine spiders which don’t trigger javascript functions. In general, that has been a good solution for getting content on pages that are flash heavy, and is widely accepted as an industry standard solution.
This is all going to change, however, once HTML5 picks up steam. HTML5 introduces the <video> tag and deprecates the need to embed video as flash. The new video tag can use an actual video file as it’s source making the need for the flash interface unnecessary. The beauty of this format is that it is open source, therefore you get all the video viewing features of a flash implementation, but in a tag that is open to any platform to use. That means full screen viewing, jump to any point in the video and buffer from there, and custom styled controls without needing any plug-in.
More importantly to search, this means that alternate content for video is now supported as part of the standard instead of needing a third party solution on top of a plug-in. Alternate HTML can simply be placed between the <video> start and end tags. This solution currently only addresses video content which doesn’t include interactive flash interfaces, but that is something the HTML5 canvas tag is hopefully going to pick up the slack on which I’ll address in a future post.
The HTML5 video element is currently supported by Firefox 3.5, Safari 3, Safari 4, Google Chrome, iPhone, and Andriod. Support is expected in upcoming versions of IE8.
Article by Joshua Tuscan
Tags: Joshua Tuscan, SEO, Video