Proposed Audio or video element that plays automatically has no audio that lasts more than 3 seconds

Description

audio or video that plays automatically does not output audio for more than 3 seconds.

Applicability

This rule applies to any audio or video element for which all the following are true:

• autoplay: the element has an autoplay attribute value of true; and
• not muted: the element has a muted attribute value of false; and
• not paused: the element has a paused attribute value of false; and
• duration: the element has a media resource lasting more than 3 seconds that contains audio.

Expectation

For each test target the total audio output does not last more than 3 seconds.

Note: This rule does not cover single audio instances that play repeatedly for more than three seconds, or multiple audio instances for more than three seconds. The WCAG Understanding documentation for 1.4.2 Audio Controls is ambiguous about how to handle these scenarios.

Background

Assumptions

There are no assumptions.

Accessibility Support

There are no accessibility support issues known.

Bibliography

• Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.2: Audio Control
• F23: Failure of 1.4.2 due to playing a sound longer than 3 seconds where there is no mechanism to turn it off
• G60: Playing a sound that turns off automatically within three seconds
• G171: Playing sounds only on user request

Accessibility Requirements Mapping

• G60: Playing a sound that turns off automatically within three seconds

  • Learn more about technique G60
  • Not required for conformance to any W3C accessibility recommendation.
  • Outcome mapping:
    • Any failed outcomes: technique is not satisfied
    • All passed outcomes: technique needs further testing
    • An inapplicable outcome: technique needs further testing

Input Aspects

The following aspects are required in using this rule.

• DOM Tree
• CSS Styling
• Audio output
• Visual output (no link available)

Test Cases

Passed

Passed Example 1

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This audio element does not play automatically for more than 3 seconds.

<audio src="/test-assets/moon-audio/moon-speech.mp3#t=25" autoplay></audio>

Passed Example 2

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This video element’s audio output does not last longer than 3 seconds.

<video autoplay>
	<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video.mp4#t=8,10" type="video/mp4" />
	<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video.webm#t=8,10" type="video/webm" />
</video>

Failed

Failed Example 1

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This audio element plays automatically for more than 3 seconds.

<audio src="/test-assets/moon-audio/moon-speech.mp3" autoplay controls></audio>

Failed Example 2

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This video element plays some audio automatically for more than 3 seconds.

<video autoplay>
	<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video.mp4" type="video/mp4" />
	<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video.webm" type="video/webm" />
</video>

Inapplicable

Inapplicable Example 1

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This video element has audio that autoplays for longer than 3 seconds but is muted.

<video autoplay muted>
	<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video.mp4" type="video/mp4" />
	<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/video.webm" type="video/webm" />
</video>

Inapplicable Example 2

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This video element refers to a source file that has no audio output.

<video autoplay>
	<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/silent.mp4" type="video/mp4" />
	<source src="/test-assets/rabbit-video/silent.webm" type="video/webm" />
</video>

Inapplicable Example 3

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This audio element does not autoplay.

<audio src="/test-assets/moon-audio/moon-speech.mp3" controls></audio>

Glossary

Attribute value

The attribute value of a content attribute set on an HTML element is the value that the attribute gets after being parsed and computed according to specifications. It may differ from the value that is actually written in the HTML code due to trimming whitespace or non-digits characters, default values, or case-insensitivity.

Some notable case of attribute value, among others:

• For enumerated attributes, the attribute value is either the state of the attribute, or the keyword that maps to it; even for the default states. Thus <input type="image" /> has an attribute value of either Image Button (the state) or image (the keyword mapping to it), both formulations having the same meaning; similarly, “an input element with a type attribute value of Text” can be either <input type="text" />, <input /> (missing value default), or <input type="invalid" /> (invalid value default).
• For boolean attributes, the attribute value is true when the attribute is present and false otherwise. Thus <button disabled>, <button disabled="disabled"> and <button disabled=""> all have a disabled attribute value of true.
• For attributes whose value is used in a case-insensitive context, the attribute value is the lowercase version of the value written in the HTML code.
• For attributes that accept numbers, the attribute value is the result of parsing the value written in the HTML code according to the rules for parsing this kind of number.
• For attributes that accept sets of tokens, whether space separated or comma separated, the attribute value is the set of tokens obtained after parsing the set and, depending on the case, converting its items to lowercase (if the set is used in a case-insensitive context).
• For aria-* attributes, the attribute value is computed as indicated in the WAI-ARIA specification and the HTML Accessibility API Mappings.

This list is not exhaustive, and only serves as an illustration for some of the most common cases.

The attribute value of an IDL attribute is the value returned on getting it. Note that when an IDL attribute reflects a content attribute, they have the same attribute value.

Outcome

A conclusion that comes from evaluating an ACT Rule on a test subject or one of its constituent test target. An outcome can be one of the five following types:

• Inapplicable: No part of the test subject matches the applicability
• Passed: A test target meets all expectations
• Failed: A test target does not meet all expectations
• cantTell: Whether the rule is applicable, or not all expectations were met could not be fully determined by the tester.
• Untested: The tester has not attempted to evaluate the test subject.

Note: A rule has one passed or failed outcome for every test target. When a tester evaluates a test target it can also be reported as cantTell if the rule cannot be tested in its entirety. For example, when applicability was automated, but the expectations have to be evaluated manually.

When there are no test targets the rule has one inapplicable outcome. If the tester is unable to determine whether there are test targets there will be one cantTell outcome. And when no evaluation has occurred the test target has one untested outcome. This means that each test subject always has one or more outcomes.

Outcomes used in ACT Rules can be expressed using the outcome property of the [EARL10-Schema][].

Rule Versions

This is the first version of this ACT rule.

Implementations

This section is not part of the official rule. It is populated dynamically and not accounted for in the change history or the last modified date.

Implementation	Type	Consistency	Report
Alfa (semi-automated) 0.80.0	Semi-automated tool	Consistent
QualWeb 3.0.0	Automated tool	Consistent

Useful Links

• Github issues related to this rule
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• Propose a change to the rule