This translation has not been editorially reviewed yet. The German version is authoritative. Deutsche Fassung →
Accessibility
How do visitors stop automatically starting music on a website?
If sound starts automatically and plays for longer than three seconds, the page must offer a way to stop it or to control its volume independently. The reason: blind visitors have the page read aloud by a screen reader — automatically starting music drowns out that voice and makes the entire website unusable.
Automatic sound drowns out the screen reader
A blind visitor navigates your website solely through the voice of their screen reader. If a video with sound or background music starts when the page loads, two audio sources compete — and the visitor can no longer even find the button to turn the music off, because they can't understand the announcements over it. That's why the rule draws the line at three seconds: short signal sounds aren't critical, but anything longer needs a way to stop it or its own volume control right at the start of the page. The simplest and best solution: audio only ever starts once the visitor deliberately turns it on. This also matches the behaviour of modern browsers, which increasingly block automatic playback with sound.
How our measurement engine checks automatic playback
The automated check opens your page in a real browser and examines the audio and video elements with axe-core: elements that start automatically with sound and provide no controls to stop them are reported as a violation. Muted autoplay videos — the common background clips on homepages — aren't a problem here, since without sound there's no conflict with the screen reader. The automation has limits with third-party embeds and with audio that only starts through later actions — a human reviews such cases at the Gold Standard level. The report clearly separates what was measured from what was judged by a human.
- Avoid automatically starting sound — let visitors turn on music and video audio themselves.
- Mute autoplaying background videos, so they don't interfere with the screen reader.
- Make sure every player on your page has visible controls to pause it.
- Place a way to stop it at the top of the page if sound must, for compelling reasons, start automatically.
- Test new pages with your speakers on: anything that sounds off unprompted belongs under review.
FAQ
Why is automatically starting music on websites a problem?
Blind visitors operate websites through the voice of a screen reader. Automatically starting music drowns out that voice — the visitor can no longer understand the announcements and can't even find the button to turn it off. That's why the rule requires a way to stop sound that plays for longer than three seconds.
Are muted background videos allowed on the homepage?
From this rule's point of view, yes: without sound, there's no conflict with the screen reader. Still, make sure the video doesn't slow the page down and can be paused if needed — continuous motion can distract visitors with concentration difficulties, which a separate check rule addresses.
How does the check detect automatically starting sound?
The measurement engine opens the page in a real browser and examines all audio and video elements with the axe-core tool. Anything that starts automatically with sound and offers no controls to stop it is reported. Sound in third-party embeds or triggered by later actions is judged by a human at the Gold Standard level.