Moving video cannot be paused

Why it matters

Background videos that autoplay and loop with no controls give people with vestibular or attention disorders no way to stop the motion.

Who it affects: Deaf and hard-of-hearing people, screen reader users whose speech is drowned out by audio, and people with vestibular or attention disorders affected by motion.

What Lumtera flags

Videos that autoplay and loop with no controls. The theme may add its own pause button, so this needs a person to check.

Check ID media-no-pause — use it to filter the content report or with wp lumtera issues --rule.

How to fix it in WordPress

Turn on "Playback controls" for the video, turn off "Loop" so it stops within five seconds, or use a still image instead. Check whether your theme already adds a pause button before dismissing.

Example

<video src="waves.mp4" autoplay muted loop></video>

<video src="waves.mp4" autoplay muted loop controls></video>

How to check your fix

1. Update the post. The issue disappears from the Accessibility sidebar on the next check, and from the site report on the next scan.
2. Play the page with the sound off, then with a screen reader on. Speech should be captioned, nothing should play sound by itself, and anything that moves should be stoppable.