We’ve been at the cutting edge of video streaming since 1999.

As technology moves fast we’ve adapted our players. From Real to Windows Media and then Adobe Flash. All these technologies required plugins to be installed in the browser.

Plugins aren’t always easy to install though and can pose security risks if they aren’t updated regularly.

This week we are releasing a new version of our player that uses open in browser technology called HTML5 – removing the need for the Flash plugin for most viewers.

The 3% of our viewers that still use older browsers like Internet Explorer 8 or 9 will still be able to watch our webcasts – via Adobe Flash.

The move should be seamless and we’re looking forward to a better user experience for our viewers. Here’s a breakdown of the benefits:

1# No More plugins:

More than 80% of browser providers announced they will stop supporting plugins. In fact, 48% of all online views came via mobile at the start of 2016, devices that basically have no support for plugins.

This will also make your IT department happy as they will be able to remove the special firewall rules that were in place for viewing webcasts via the council’s network. The video streaming will now be done over HLS (HTTP Live Streaming).

2# Security:

Critical vulnerabilities are found every week in Adobe Flash and hackers could be taking control of your machine if you enable this plugin. This is the main reason why most browser providers would like to get rid of Flash and other plugins.

3# Performance:

Playing video through Flash can take a lot of your machine’s processor and battery. HTML5 uses your core system technology to play video and it should take less resource to play in HD.

4# Future proof:

Instead of reinventing of the wheel, our player will be powered by Theoplayer. This is used by major companies who regard it as the best for video streaming. This will allow us to bring you amazing features in the future like DVR, sharing video snippets, or video thumbnails on the scrubber bar.

5# Better captioning:

Theoplayer allows us to use clever technology to bring you in sync captions, agendas and slides during live webcasts. We could do this in the past on desktop browsers using Flash but it’s now possible for mobile platforms like iPads and Android tablets.

Contact your account manager or the helpdesk if you want to know more about this.