#  Sharing audio and video on your site 

 



HarvardSites does not support hosting large media files like audio (MP3, AAC, WAV, M4A, etc.) or video (MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, AVI, etc.) To share media, first upload your file to a streaming service (for example, YouTube, Vimeo, or SoundCloud). Then embed the player on your page using the HarvardSites ([Video](/video "Video") or [Embed](/embed "Embed")) components. This approach improves performance, preserves storage, and helps you meet accessibility requirements.

## Why HarvardSites uses third‑party media hosting

- **Performance and reliability**: Streaming platforms optimize playback, quality, and bandwidth.
- **Accessibility workflows**: Platforms like YouTube/Vimeo support captions and transcripts, which is a Digital Accessibility Policy requirement.
- **Platform scope**: HarvardSites file attachments are intended for documents (PDF, DOCX, etc.), not audio or video. Media should be hosted externally.

## Best practices for sharing a video (YouTube or Vimeo)

- Upload to YouTube or Vimeo.
- Add accurate captions (don’t rely only on auto‑captions; edit them for accuracy).
- Set visibility (Public or Unlisted) so your site visitors can view it.
- Add the [video](/video "Video") on your page.
- Keep autoplay off. Autoplay can be disruptive and may create accessibility issues.
- **Quality check**: Play the video, confirm captions display as expected, and verify keyboard access to the player controls.

Best practices for sharing audio (SoundCloud or another supported provider)

## Best practices for sharing audio (SoundCloud or another supported provider)

- Upload your audio file (for example, to SoundCloud).
- Publish a clean transcript (on the page or as a linked document) so content is accessible.
- Confirm the track is set to a visibility that allows site visitors to listen.
- Quality check: Test keyboard access to the player controls and verify your transcript is easy to find.

**Note:** Only certain providers are supported for embedding. If your embed doesn’t render, test with another approved provider (for example, SoundCloud) or review the [Embed component instructions](/embed "Embed").

## Providing a downloadable file

If you must offer a downloadable file (for example, a PDF transcript), create a [Resource](/resource "Resource") and link to that Resource from your page or components. This keeps an evergreen URL so external links don’t break when you update the file. Follow Linking to a file in HarvardSites for details.

## General best practices

- Always provide captions for video and transcripts for audio to meet Harvard’s Digital Accessibility Policy requirements. See [Multimedia Accessibility](/resource/multimedia-accessibility "Multimedia Accessibility") for more information.
- Use descriptive titles for videos/tracks so screen reader users understand the content.
- Avoid autoplay and flashing content.
- Test embeds in a private/incognito window to confirm visibility settings allow viewing without being logged in.
- Limit the number of embeds on a single page to keep pages responsive and fast.



 

 

 See also:- [ Resource List ](/components/resource-list)
- [ Guidance ](/content-structure/guidance)
- [ Content ](/topics/content)
- [ Images ](/general-site-management/images)
- [ Quality Assurance ](/topics/quality-assurance)