Audio and video
no-autoplay-audio
WCAG 1.4.2 Audio Control Level A
Who this affects
Audio plays automatically, which covers a screen reader's own speech and leaves the user unable to hear it.
How to fix it
Do not autoplay audio. If you must, keep it under three seconds or provide a control to stop it at the start of the page.
How much work is it?
Usually a template or design change. That is a rough guide for planning, not an estimate for your codebase. A single content edit repeated across a template is a template change.
What a person still has to check
Passing this rule does not mean 1.4.2 passes. Automation checks part of the criterion, and the rest is a judgement:
Load the page and confirm nothing plays audio for more than three seconds without a way to stop it.
Read 1.4.2 Audio Control in plain language
Where this check comes from
This is an axe-core rule. We run axe in a real browser on every page we scan. Deque’s reference for no-autoplay-audio
Find out whether your site does this
A scan checks this rule on every page it visits, and shows you the code and a screenshot of each place it fires.