Sound on the Web

The web has been around a while now, as opposed to, say, mobile apps. That means user expectations, when it comes to things like sound, are pretty well defined. Nobody likes unexpected sound on the Web, and hearing it causes anger and frustration instead of delight and trust.

Here are a few general principles to keep in mind when working with sound on the Web.

Never Play Sound by Default

I recently saw a feature in a beta version of a popular browser that would place an icon on any background tab where its web page was playing sound. This feature makes it easier for the user to track down and close the offending site. Even web-browser developers are thinking about the problem of unexpected sound as something to fix, not promote. ...

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