User Guide & Help

EquiViewer provides several distinct modes for authoring and viewing accessible video content. Read the guide below to learn how to use the core features of the platform.

1. 🎙️ Audio Description (AD) Editor

Author Descriptions: Pause the video at any timestamp and author a custom string of text to describe unseen visual events.

Text-To-Speech: EquiViewer utilizes the native Web Speech API to automatically read your descriptions at the designated timestamps. You can select from diverse system voices and adjust the reading rate per AD.

Standard or Extended AD: You can choose whether the video should Pause entirely while the voice reads the description (Extended), or simply Duck to let the audio mix in real-time without stopping the video (Standard).

Time-Based Media Alternative (Experimental): Import a video's Closed Captions directly as a dialogue script, then inject "Action" blocks in between dialogue to describe unseen events.

Auto-Fetch Captions: Click the "Auto-Fetch" button to automatically interpret YouTube's transcript into manageable dialogue blocks.

If auto-fetch is blocked by region restrictions, you can paste raw `.vtt` caption data directly into the importer as a fallback.

Segment Looping: Define explicit "Steps" for a project (e.g., Step 1: 00:30 - 01:15). The video will naturally loop within this timeframe infinitely until you are ready to move on.

Contextual Aids: Add optional audio descriptions that play continuously during the loop to clarify visual instructions that the creator missed, or simply to add your own personal context/reminders to the step.

Immersive Viewing: Provides a clean, full-width UI focused entirely on the content. Standalone text-to-speech AD blocks are rendered as high-contrast CC overlays directly on the video player.

Hands-Free Voice Control: Designed for users who have their hands tied (e.g., during woodworking or cooking). Ensure your microphone is enabled and utilize the following Voice Commands:

  • "Play" or "Start"

  • "Pause" or "Stop"

  • "Next Step" or "Continue" (Automatically breaks the current DIY Loop and advances playback to the next step).

You can easily load videos into EquiViewer by pasting a YouTube URL or standard Video ID into the search bar.

If the video publisher has disabled external embedding, EquiViewer will securely intercept the error and automatically suggest alternative variations/re-uploads of that exact video for you to load instead.

Additionally, you can instantly turn any standard YouTube link into an accessible EquiViewer link by changing www.youtube.com to phasethru.vercel.app in your address bar.