Global shortcut to play/pause YouTube

I would like to set a shortcut that will play/pause YouTube. I want it to work when I'm not focused on my browser or when I'm in a different tab.

If the command pauses any YouTube video running on any of the opened tabs, that would be OK. I'm using Ubuntu 12.04 with Firefox 39.0.3.

I know that I can use VLC to watch the video and use its global shortcuts but I would like a solution that works with the browser.

2 Answers

There are a number of browser extensions that allow you to control YouTube videos without having to switch to the tab, such as thisMulti-tab Controller for YouTube which is an extension/add-on for Chrome or Firefox

rewolf's answer didn't work out for me. Multi-tab Controller for YouTube doesn't allow you to set shortcuts for media control buttons, so you'll have to use your mouse every time.

Here is how I solved it:

1. Install streamkeys extension
2. Go to chrome://extensions/shortcuts
3. Find that extension
4. Set a shortcut. For example, ctrl+space