Where to upload your video
To use a video on a bath.ac.uk web page, you need to upload it to a third-party hosting site first. We use the video platforms Vimeo and YouTube for different purposes.
You should always use Vimeo to embed videos on the University website. This is because we can control whether adverts are shown to the user after the video has played.
We also upload some videos to YouTube as users can discover them while browsing. Don't embed videos uploaded to YouTube on the University website.
Prepare your video
Before producing your video, make sure you're aware of all the technical requirements.
To upload a video, make sure you have prepared:
- a clear, descriptive title for your video
- a short description of the video that includes its purpose, intended audience, and any links to more information or disclaimers
- a list of tags, separated with commas
- a subtitle or closed-caption file and a transcript
- the required privacy setting for the video
- the video file in an acceptable format
You can upload the videos yourself or contact your lead publisher. If you are not sure who to contact, you can ask the Digital team by emailing web-support@bath.ac.uk.
If the Audio Visual (AV) team is producing a video for you, you can ask them to upload it to the appropriate platform themselves so you don't have to contact the Digital team.
Upload your video
Do it yourself
You can upload a video yourself by logging in to the University's Vimeo or YouTube channels.
If you need the login details for Vimeo and YouTube, contact the Digital team at web-support@bath.ac.uk to request them.
Ask the Digital team to do it
To ask the Digital team to upload a video, email us at web-support@bath.ac.uk.
In your email, include all the necessary information about the video. It is helpful to include details of any agency involved in creating the video in case we need to contact them.
You will need to provide a link to the video file in files.bath or another file transfer service, for example, Dropbox or WeTransfer.
If you would like us to upload a video previously from Re:View (Panopto), you need to download it yourself and then send it to us. If you need help to retrieve videos from Panopto, contact the AV team.
Tag your video
Both Vimeo and YouTube use tags to make videos easy to find, so it's worth adding tags to improve the visibility of your video.
Tags should be one or two words that help to categorise the video. For example, a video about an MEng course in Integrated Mechanical and Electrical Engineering could be tagged with 'engineering, mechanical, electrical, bath, university, meng, undergraduate, degree'. You should use between five and ten tags.
If you ask the Digital or AV teams to upload your videos, please send your tags in a comma-separated list to make them easier to add to Vimeo or YouTube.
Use the correct video format
The best file format for Vimeo and YouTube is .mp4 as it offers high quality at a low filesize. When possible, you should request your videos as .mp4 or convert them into .mp4 using a video conversion tool like HandBrake.
If your video is not available in .mp4 format, you can use .avi or .mov formats instead.
Make your video accessible
You must make sure any videos you use on our website are accessible.
This is a legal requirement so that the University complies with The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Apps) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations.
Set your video's privacy settings
Vimeo
Vimeo allows you to set the privacy level on your videos.
You can set the privacy level so only people with a direct link or using an embed on a website can see your video.
If you only want a select group of people to see your video when it's embedded on our site, please contact the Digital team at web-support@bath.ac.uk
YouTube
You can set the privacy level on YouTube in a similar way. We don't usually restrict our videos on YouTube because we want them to be visible and shareable.
Choose a thumbnail image
On Vimeo and YouTube, you can choose a thumbnail image to display in search results and when your video is embedded on our website.
Choose a thumbnail that gives viewers a good idea of what your video is about. It should be the best representation of the video and, if possible, reflect the diversity of the University.
It's important to choose a thumbnail that is high quality and encourages users to watch the video. Try not to include text in your thumbnail.
Vimeo
Vimeo allows you to choose any frame you want from the video. To do this:
- Go to the 'Basic settings page' for your video.
- Scroll down to the end of the page to find options to playback the video.
- Choose a thumbnail.
YouTube
YouTube will give you a choice of three automatically generated thumbnails. If none of these are suitable, you can upload your own image. This can be a frame taken from the video or a still image that's relevant to the content.
Embed your video on our website
After you upload your video to Vimeo, you will be able to embed it on the University website. Most pages in Typecase (Content Publisher) allow you to add a title and embed the code to make a video appear on the page.
To get the embed code:
- Log into the University of Bath Vimeo account.
- Go to our 'Videos' page.
- Find your video.
- Click on the ellipsis (three dots) in the bottom right corner of the window for your video.
- Click 'Embed'.
- Check that the 'Web' tab is selected.
- Click 'Embed code' to copy the code.
- Paste the embed code into the Typecase edit page where you want your video to appear.