Controlling video open and speed playback

Last updated: 2022-03-08

Many knowledge base topics have videos associated with them. They use native browser functionality to play the videos and not customized video playback wrappers.

Open video in new tab/window

Default action to open a link in many browsers is to replace the current webpage with the new link. However, when you go back to the previous page, it will not remember where you were on the page. This can be troublesome for very long topics.

To open a video and keep the topic webpage open, you can open a video link in a new tab or window. The following commands work in Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome and should work in all Chromium-based browsers:

Open link in new tab

  1. Right-click link > Open link in new tab

  2. Ctrl + Click link

Open link in new window

  1. Right-click link > Open link in new window

  2. Shift + Click link

Video speed playback control

You may want to speed up, slow down, skip ahead or back on videos in addition to play/pause functionality. This is most easily managed with a browser extension.

The extension that is approved for WisDOT use is:

Video Speed Controller

To add this extension to Edge or Chrome:

  1. Click Video Speed Controller - Chrome Web Store (google.com)

  2. Click Add to Chrome on the webpage

Control options and keyboard shortcuts can be found by right-click Video Speed Controller extension > Extension options

Source code and documentation at GitHub - igrigorik/videospeed: HTML5 video speed controller (for Google Chrome)