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Playing Audio & Video

Every audio and video item gets an inline player you can use from the accession page, search results, and item detail screens.

Where the player appears​

  • On any audio or video row in the Items tab — a play icon appears next to the file. Click to expand the inline player without leaving the page.
  • On the item detail page — opens with the player visible by default.
  • In search results — preview play directly from the result card.

Player controls​

The player gives you:

  • Play / pause — spacebar also works
  • Seek bar with click-to-jump
  • Playback speed — 0.5×, 0.75×, 1×, 1.25×, 1.5×, 2×
  • Volume
  • Mute
  • Fullscreen for video
  • Skip forward / backward 15 seconds

The synchronised transcript​

If the item has been transcribed (see Transcription), the transcript appears beneath the player. Click any segment to jump the player to that timestamp; the active segment highlights as playback advances.

Useful patterns:

  • Search within the transcript — Cmd/Ctrl+F finds words in long oral histories.
  • Copy a timed quote — click a segment to set position, then copy text plus timestamp from the segment menu.
  • Read instead of listen — for a one-hour interview, scanning the transcript is often faster than streaming.

Multi-track audio​

If a file has multiple audio tracks (e.g. a video with a dub or commentary), the player exposes a track switcher in the controls. The transcript follows whichever track is selected.

Captions and subtitles​

If you uploaded an SRT or VTT subtitle file alongside the media, the player shows a CC toggle. Subtitles render over the video and can be styled in your browser's accessibility settings.

If transcription was run automatically, the transcript serves as a soft-caption layer — visible beneath the player but not burned into the video.

Limits and quirks​

  • Very large videos may take a moment to seek. The Archiver streams from blob storage; cold starts can add a second.
  • Browsers vary in their support for codecs. If a file plays on one machine but not another, the underlying issue is browser codec support, not The Archiver — try Chromium-based browsers for the widest compatibility.

Downloading the original​

The … menu on the player has Download original — fetches the unmodified upload. Useful for sharing with editors or for cross-system migration. Available to General members and above on Team / Enterprise.