Playing Sounds In The Browser

From http://www.w3schools.com (Copyright Refsnes Data)

# Playing Sounds On The Web

Sounds can be played "inline" or by a "helper", depending on the HTML element you use.

## Inline Sound

When sound is included in a web page, or as part of a web page, it is called inline sound.

Inline sound can be added to a web page by using the <bgsound> element or the <img> element.

If you plan to use inline sounds in your web applications, be aware that many people find inline sound annoying. Also note that some users might have turned off the inline sound option in their browser.

Our best advice is to include inline sound only in web pages where the user expects to hear the sound. An example of this is a page which opens after the user has clicked on a link to hear a recording.

## Using A Helper (Plug-In)

A helper application is a program that can be launched by the browser to "help" playing sound. Helper applications are also called Plug-Ins.

Helper applications can be launched using the <embed> element, the <applet> element, or the <object> element.

One great advantage of using a helper application is that you can let some (or all) of the player settings be controlled by the user.

Most helper applications allows manually (or programmed) control over the volume settings and play functions like rewind, pause, stop and play.

## Using The <bgsound> Element

Internet Explorer supports an element called <bgsound>.

The purpose of this element is to provide a background sound for a web page:

    <bgsound src="beatles.mid" />

The code fragment above displays a MIDI file as background music for a web page.

Click here to try it yourself

A list of attributes for the <bgsound> element can be found in a later chapter of this tutorial.

Note: The <bgsound> element is not a standard HTML or XHTML element. It is supported by Internet Explorer only.

## Using The <img> Element

Internet Explorer supports the dynsrc attribute in the <img> element.

The purpose of this element is to embed multimedia elements in web page:

    <img dynsrc="horse.wav" />

The code fragment above displays a WAVE file embedded in a web page.

Click here to try it yourself

Note: The dynsrc attribute is not a standard HTML or XHTML attribute. It is supported by Internet Explorer only.

## Using The <embed> Element

Internet Explorer and Netscape both support an element called <embed>.

The purpose of this element is to embed multimedia elements in web page:

    <embed src="beatles.mid" />

The code fragment above displays a MIDI file embedded in a web page.

Click here to try it yourself

A list of attributes for the <embed> element can be found in a later chapter of this tutorial.

Note: The <embed> element is supported by both Internet Explorer and Netscape, but it is not a standard HTML or XHTML element. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommend using the <object> element instead.

## Using The <object> Element

Internet Explorer and Netscape both support an HTML element called <object>.

The purpose of this element is to embed multimedia elements in web page:

    <object
    classid="clsid:22D6F312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95">
    <param name="FileName" value="liar.wav" />
    </object>

The code fragment above displays a WAVE file embedded in a web page.

Click here to try it yourself

A list of attributes for the <object> element can be found in a later chapter of this tutorial.

## Using A Hyperlink

If a web page includes a hyperlink to a media file, most browsers will use a "helper application" to play the file:

    <a href="beatles.mid">
    Click here to play the Beatles
    </a>

The code fragment above displays a link to a MIDI file. If the user clicks on the link, the browser will launch a helper application like Windows Media Player to play the MIDI file.

Click here to try it yourself

From http://www.w3schools.com (Copyright Refsnes Data)