# Understanding Audio Control

## In brief

Goal
  A page that plays music or sounds doesn't disrupt people.
What to do
  If you play audio content automatically, let people turn it down or off.
Why it's important
  Sound distracts some people, and also interferes with screen readers.

## Intent of Audio Control

Individuals who use screen reading software can find it hard to hear the speech output if there is other audio playing at the same time. This difficulty is exacerbated when the screen reader's speech output is software based (as most are today) and is controlled via the same volume control as the sound. Therefore, it is important that the user be able to turn off the background sound.

Having control of the volume includes being able to reduce its volume to zero. Muting the system volume is not "pausing or stopping" the autoplay audio. Both the "pause or stop" and control of audio volume need to be independent of the overall system volume.

Playing audio automatically when landing on a page may affect a screen reader user's ability to find the mechanism to stop it because they navigate by listening and automatically started sounds might interfere with that navigation. Therefore, we discourage the practice of automatically starting sounds (especially if they last more than 3 seconds), and encourage that the sound be started by an action initiated by the user after they reach the page, rather than requiring that the sound be stopped by an action of the user after they land on the page.

See also 1.4.7: Low or No Background Audio.

## Benefits of Audio Control

- Individuals who use screen reading technologies can hear the screen reader without other sounds playing. This is especially important for those who are hard of hearing and for those whose screen readers use the system volume (so they cannot turn sound down and screen reader up).
- This Success Criterion also benefits people who have difficulty focusing on visual content (including text) when audio is playing.

## Examples of Audio Control

- An audio file begins playing automatically when a page is opened. However, the audio can be stopped by the user by selecting a "silent" link at the top of the page.

## Resources for Audio Control

## Techniques for Audio Control

### Sufficient Techniques for Audio Control

- Playing a sound that turns off automatically within three seconds
- Providing a control near the top of the Web page that turns off sounds that play automatically
- Playing sounds only on user request

### Additional Techniques (Advisory) for Audio Control

### Failures for Audio Control

- Failure due to playing a sound longer than 3 seconds where there is no mechanism to turn it off