Find every video on your site that plays through Flash, whether a self-hosted Flash player or old YouTube embed code, and replace it with YouTube's current embed code or an HTML5 player that works on phones.

What YouTube said yesterday

YouTube said on Tuesday that it now plays video by default through HTML5, the video support built into current browsers, rather than through its Flash player.

For people watching on YouTube itself, little changes. Videos play as they did, without a plugin.

For small business websites it is a useful prompt. iPhones and iPads never played Flash, current Android phones do not either, and some business sites still rely on it to show their video.

On those devices the visitor sees an empty box, a black rectangle or a message about a missing plugin, where the video should be.

Where Flash video hides on a business site

The second is the easiest to miss. The video lives on YouTube and plays perfectly there; only the code on your page belongs to an older era.

Why the owner never notices

Office computers usually have Flash installed, and on them the old player works exactly as it always did.

The empty box appears on phones and tablets, which now bring a large share of visits to most small business sites. Few of those visitors email to say a video did not load. They scroll past.

Tablets count as much as phones here. An iPad on the sofa in the evening is how many people look a business over before calling it the next morning.

A video placed to show the work, the premises or the product therefore fails for the visitors most likely to be deciding on the spot.

Finding the old players

Open every page with a video on a phone. Anything that shows an empty box, a puzzle-piece icon or a request to install a plugin is almost certainly Flash.

Then have your web developer search the site's files for .swf and .flv files and for the old object and embed tags. That catches players on pages nobody thought to check.

Video galleries and tour plugins deserve a separate look, since they may use Flash only when a visitor opens them.

Check the pages different people added over the years as well, such as news posts and project pages. Old embed code tends to survive there.

Replacing an old YouTube embed

This is the quick one. YouTube's current embed code, found under the video's Share option, opens a small window onto YouTube's own player, which chooses HTML5 or Flash to suit each device.

YouTube encourages sites to use that code rather than the older version. Swapping it in usually takes a few minutes per video.

Set the player to scale with the page, so it fits a phone screen rather than spilling off the side.

Replacing a self-hosted Flash player

There are two sensible routes. Upload the video to YouTube and embed it with the current code, or convert it to an MP4 file and play it with the video player built into the browser.

YouTube handles the different devices and connection speeds for you, at no cost. A self-hosted MP4 keeps viewers on your site without suggested videos afterwards, but uses your own hosting space and bandwidth.

Either way, give the video a still image to show before it starts, and controls the visitor can see and use.

A worked example

A tropical fish store in a suburban plaza keeps several dozen display tanks and sells fish, plants, aquariums and equipment.

Its website, built in 2009, opened with a two-minute video tour of the fish room, played through a Flash player. A care page embedded six how-to videos from YouTube using the old code.

On the counter computer both worked, so nobody questioned them. Customers mentioned at the till that the home page showed a black box on their phones.

The tour was uploaded to the store's YouTube channel and placed on the home page with the current embed code, sized to the width of the screen.

The care videos got the same treatment, each with a short paragraph underneath saying what it covers: cycling a new tank, settling new fish in, cleaning a filter.

The Flash player and its files were removed from the server, so nothing old could be linked to by mistake.

Start from the original footage

An old Flash video file is usually a heavily compressed copy. Converting it again to MP4 loses more quality, so ask whoever filmed it for the original footage first.

If the original is gone, convert the old file anyway. A slightly soft video that plays everywhere beats a sharp one that many visitors cannot play at all.

While you are replacing it

Write a sentence or two under each video saying what it shows. It helps visitors who cannot play it, gives search engines something to read, and tells everyone else whether it is worth two minutes.

Add captions where speech matters. YouTube creates rough captions automatically for many videos, and they are worth checking and correcting.

And do not start videos automatically with sound. On a phone in a quiet room, that is the fastest way to lose a visitor.

The counter-case

Sites built or updated in the last few years probably use the current YouTube code already, and need nothing more than a quick check on a phone.

A video that no longer reflects the business, such as a tour of premises since renovated, may be better removed than replaced.

And a site that relies on Flash for its menus or slideshows as well as its video needs more than a patch. Replace the video now, and plan the rest of the site properly.

The check

  1. Open every page with video on a phone.
  2. Note each empty box or plugin message.
  3. Search the site's files for Flash players.
  4. Replace old YouTube code with the current embed.
  5. Move self-hosted videos to YouTube or MP4.
  6. Make each player fit a narrow screen.
  7. Add a sentence describing each video.

Step one is the step owners skip, because the video works on the office computer. The phone is where the problem shows, and it takes ten minutes to look.

Content locked into a format phones cannot handle is the same problem as in an infographic nobody can read on a phone.

Frequently asked questions

What did YouTube announce this week?

That it now plays video through HTML5, the video support built into current browsers, by default instead of its Flash player. It also encourages sites to use its current embed code.

Why do Flash videos show an empty box?

iPhones and iPads never supported Flash, and current Android phones do not either. Where a page relies on a Flash player, those visitors see a blank box or a plugin message.

How do I know if my videos use Flash?

Open each page with video on a phone. Empty boxes or plugin messages mean Flash. Ask your developer to search the site's files for .swf and .flv files too.

Is replacing an old YouTube embed difficult?

No. Copy the current embed code from the Share option under the video, paste it in place of the old code, and set the player to scale with the page.

What replaces a self-hosted Flash player?

Either upload the video to YouTube and embed it with the current code, or convert it to MP4 and play it with the video player built into the browser.

Why does the owner never see the problem?

Office computers usually have Flash installed, so the old player works there. The empty box appears on phones and tablets, and those visitors rarely mention it.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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