[tpxl]

> That is, unless the last UI element you've touched was the volume bar, in which case the side arrows will also change the volume, and you'll have to use the mouse to clear the focus away from that volume bar to be able to seek the video again

That is a feature (of the browser). The volume bar is selected so it takes up the controls for left/right (this is what a horizontal slider does I suppose). You can also select the volume button and mute/unmute with spacebar (spacebar does the action of the UI element, like click a button). You can tab around the buttons under the video to select options, etc. all with a keyboard. If a control doesn't support an action, it'll be propagated up to the parent, which leads to the jarring feeling that controls are inconsistent (and also the effects, left-right just adjusts the volume, up-down also plays an animation).

It's the usual low quality Google product, but it does make sense why it is so.

[tavavex]

Oh, I know why it works that way. The point is that overriding parts of the normal focus behavior makes sense within video players - not only does every function already have a key shortcut (reducing the need for tabbing through every button), but some shortcuts can only work if the player understands what can and can't be overriden. Losing focus on the volume bar for the sake of keeping the arrow key assignments consistent is how it was done. Many other video platforms have figured it out, and so did YouTube many years ago, but then during one of their endless player redesigns, they seem to have simply forgotten about that basic behavior. I have no idea how they allowed it to remain this way for years, with all of them being extremely intelligent and well-paid engineers that are working on probably what is the world's most popular video player UI.