HTML5 Audio

HTML5 provides a standard for playing audio files.

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Audio on the Web

Until now, there has not been a standard for playing audio files on a web page.

Today, most audio files are played through a plug-in (like flash). However, different browsers may have different plug-ins.

HTML5 defines a new element which specifies a standard way to embed an audio file on a web page: the <audio> element.

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Browser Support

Internet Explorer 9+, Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari support the <audio> element.

Note: Internet Explorer 8 and earlier versions, do not support the <audio> element.

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HTML5 Audio - How It Works

To play an audio file in HTML5, this is all you need:

Example

<audio controls>
  <source src="horse.ogg" type="audio/ogg">
  <source src="horse.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
Your browser does not support the audio element.
</audio>

Try it yourself »

The control attribute adds audio controls, like play, pause, and volume.

You should also insert text content between the <audio> and </audio> tags for browsers that do not support the <audio> element.

The <audio> element allows multiple <source> elements. <source> elements can link to different audio files. The browser will use the first recognized format.

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Audio Formats and Browser Support

Currently, there are 3 supported file formats for the <audio> element: MP3, Wav, and Ogg:

Browser	MP3	Wav	Ogg
Internet Explorer 9+	YES	NO	NO
Chrome 6+	YES	YES	YES
Firefox 3.6+	NO	YES	YES
Safari 5+	YES	YES	NO
Opera 10+	NO	YES	YES

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MIME Types for Audio Formats

Format	MIME-type
MP3	audio/mpeg
Ogg	audio/ogg
Wav	audio/wav

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HTML5 Audio Tags

Tag	Description
<audio>	Defines sound content
<source>	Defines multiple media resources for media elements, such as <video> and <audio>