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4.8.7 The audio element

Categories:
Flow content.
Phrasing content.
Embedded content.
If the element has a controls attribute: Interactive content.
If the element has a controls attribute: Palpable content.
Contexts in which this element can be used:
Where embedded content is expected.
Content model:
If the element has a src attribute: zero or more track elements, then transparent, but with no media element descendants.
If the element does not have a src attribute: zero or more source elements, then zero or more track elements, then transparent, but with no media element descendants.
Content attributes:
Global attributes
src
crossorigin
preload
autoplay
mediagroup
loop
muted
controls
DOM interface:
[NamedConstructor=Audio(),
 NamedConstructor=Audio(DOMString src)]
interface HTMLAudioElement : HTMLMediaElement {};

An audio element represents a sound or audio stream.

Content may be provided inside the audio element; it is intended for older Web browsers which do not support audio, so that legacy audio plugins can be tried, or to show text to the users of these older browsers informing them of how to access the audio contents.

In particular, this content is not intended to address accessibility concerns. To make audio content accessible to the deaf or to those with other physical or cognitive disabilities, a variety of features are available. If captions or a sign language video are available, the video element can be used instead of the audio element to play the audio, allowing users to enable the visual alternatives. Chapter titles can be provided to aid navigation, using the track element and a WebVTT file. And, naturally, transcripts or other textual alternatives can be provided by simply linking to them in the prose near the audio element. [WEBVTT]

The audio element is a media element whose media data is ostensibly audio data.

The src, preload, autoplay, mediagroup, loop, muted, and controls attributes are the attributes common to all media elements.

audio = new Audio( [ url ] )

Returns a new audio element, with the src attribute set to the value passed in the argument, if applicable.