New Features Added to the NFB.ca Web Site
The New Year is coming and with it, a new face for the NFB.ca Web site. As we get ready for our official launch, we’ve made some changes to the site:
Our new search engine, powered by Google, gives better results. Not only does it display the videos we have online, it also displays all the NFB Web pages related to them.
We’ve added the corporate Web site to the footer on our homepage. Now it’s easier to access our news stories, the Web pages for individual films and everything else the NFB has to offer.
We’ve put in a new video player with lots of features to explore.
Some of our films now have closed captioning (CC) and descriptive video (DV). Soon we’ll have a complete list of these films available.
The sidebar on our film pages has changed. Now it gives suggestions for films related by topic and director. In addition, there are direct links to buy these films from our online store.
Your viewing history now displays – at a glance – all the videos you’ve watched during your last visits.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the site. Check out the features on the video player, explore the film pages, and give us your two cents.
@Shelley – You can find all our closed captioned films on the Explore All Films page. Or click here: http://bit.ly/9EiXSH
Do you have a list of videos that are closed captioned available? Thanks!
@VancouverDave – For films not in the public domain, there are rights associated with music, actors performances, archival footage, etc. that we need to acquire in order to make these films available for download. Acquiring these rights is not always simple. In regard to those films that are in the public domain, it’s an excellent idea. We’re looking into it to see if we can find a viable model to do so.
Surely the rights are quite straightforward: we paid for all this, so we should be able to access it. How can the owners not have a right to download these films (particularly those already in public domain)?
@Reed – At the moment you can’t download. We’re working on it for the future, but there are rights issues to be sorted out.
Are we (the public) able to download the films to watch while not connected to the Internet?
If so how? and if not, why not? Thanks, –Reed
Hey Joe – Yes, you can run the application by keyboard. We’ve published our accessibility information here: http://beta.nfb.ca/accessibility/. We also hope to have a list of closed captioned films and films with descriptive video available before the holidays. In regard to testing, we’re still in the process and we’ve hired an external firm to aid us in that. If you’ve found any specific bugs or if you have suggestions or comments please let us know by sending an email to webmaster@nfb.ca.
Well, that’s great.
But can I actually run the whole application, including all player controls, entirely by keyboard or in a screen reader?
Hint: Launching without testing for those features, and fixing whatever problems there are, is a human-rights complaint waiting to happen.