Rule: Audio Control

Rule ID	Audio 2
Conformance	Required
Definition	Media content with audio that automatically starts playing when the page loads and lasts longer than 3 seconds must provide a means for the user able to stop, pause or mute the audio content.
Purpose	Individuals who use screen reading technologies can hear the screen reader without other sounds playing. This is especially important for those who are hard of hearing and for those whose screen readers use the system volume (so they cannot turn sound down and screen reader up). People who have difficulty focusing on visual content (including text) benefit when audio is playing.
Conformance	Required
WCAG Success Criteria	Success Criterion 1.4.2 Audio Control Other Related Success Criterion:
Rule Category	Audio/Video
Rule Scope	Page
Techniques	Remove or disable the auto playing of media that includes audio content. Provide a means to pause, stop or mute the audio content. Use cookies to preserve the user preference of pausing, stopping or muting the audio content.
Information Links	WCAG Understanding 1.4.2 Audio Control W3C: Making Audio and Video Media Accessible G60: Playing a sound that turns off automatically within three seconds G170: Providing a control near the beginning of the Web page that turns off sounds that play automatically G171: Playing sounds only on user request F23: Failure of 1.4.2 due to playing a sound longer than 3 seconds where there is no mechanism to turn it off F93: Failure of Success Criterion 1.4.2 for absence of a way to pause or stop an HTML5 media element that autoplays University of Washington: Creating Accessible Videos WebAIM: Captions, Transcripts, and Audio Descriptions