Pony Request: Stop a scaled up inline YT player from snapping to the centered position

November 26, 2012 6:40 PM

Pony Request: Stop the Youtube inline player from re-centering itself on a scaled up page on an ipad. The Close link is unavailable when the player is scaled up, and won't work.

Hi! It seems like the only time I ever use Metatalk is to ask for things. Sorry about that. Anyway.
I have mobility/vision issues. And I use an ipad almost exclusively. Here's my issue:
I need to scale up the screen when reading posts. I also really like to watch Youtube videos. When I have the screen scaled up, and I use the inline YT player, the player opens on a layer that is centered vertically. Unfortunately, when the player is scaled up with the rest of the page, the Close link is below the boundary of the screen. Scrolling the window up won't allow you to use the link, because it snaps back to its original position.
My request: Stop the inline player from snapping back, so that the scrolled page stays and I can click the link.

There are ways I can get around this, of course - double tap the screen so that the page goes back to the original scale (which would be okay except that my ability to double-tap is sometimes affected by speed, and sometimes by accuracy), and pinch-zooming can work, but is not easy when using two hands - I can't move my fingers well enough to pinch-zoom very well, so it's a two-fingered approach at best.

I know it's a weird little pony, but then again, so am I. I appreciate any help you can offer.

posted by disclaimer to Feature Requests at 6:40 PM (6 comments total)

As you might expect, this is a very niche request. Is there any chance you could open YouTube links in a new tab and watch the videos at YouTube instead of using the inline player? Then you wouldn't have problems opening the player when the page is zoomed in. Alternately, you could stop zooming in and set larger font sizes in your site preferences.

The problem seems to be centered around being zoomed in on the page. If you could eliminate that need to zoom you'd be set.
posted by pb (staff) at 6:45 PM on November 26, 2012

That's probably my fault, sorry disclaimer.
posted by unliteral at 7:56 PM on November 26, 2012

Disclaimer: that drives me nuts also and I have just stopped using the inline feature on the iPad. I just open videos in a separate tab now.
posted by SLC Mom at 9:18 PM on November 26, 2012 [1 favorite]

oh, and in case you weren't aware, you can tap anywhere on the darkened part of the page to close the player. You don't need the close window link. So if closing the window once it's open is the biggest hurdle, tapping anywhere on the original page will make that easier.
posted by pb (staff) at 9:35 PM on November 26, 2012

disclaimer, alternatively you could also try mapping the Zoom function to the Home button in Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> Triple-click. That way, triple-clicking the home button toggles a zoom function, just like how double-clicking conjures up a list of recent apps. Then when zoom is turned on you can drag the viewport around with three fingers, meaning you can reveal the close link without it snapping away from view again. Does that make any sense for you? I hope this works the same in different versions of iOS but I can't tell for sure.

If you're having trouble getting your triple-clicks to register, you can also change the Home-click speed, right above the Triple-click settings in Accessibility. Does that help?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane (staff) at 10:52 PM on November 26, 2012 [3 favorites]

(Responses to a user called disclaimer are quite amusing.)
posted by smackfu at 7:36 AM on November 27, 2012 [3 favorites]