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Mar3

I Wish There Where Web Standards For Audio

When I first heard of Scriptaculous’s new audio playback I was a bit startled. Since when could JavaScript play sound?

For a split second I wondered how I could have missed something so obvious and important in JavaScript and the way it interacts with the Browser and Document object models. Even JQuery seems to have a plugin in development for sound.

When I looked at Scriptaculous’s source I noticed it created sound by adding an Embed tag – a non-standardized tag – which usually points to .wav file, a Microsoft/IBM sound format. This may seem unorthodox to many standards-enthusiasts out there, but I think the author’s decision to add an Embed tag really does underscore a problem with the current state of the Web: standardized sound and audio.

Sound is can be a big component of a truly interactive experience. Visual effects with JavaScript are beginning to match Flash. But without an agreed standard for sound and audio I’m sometimes skeptical as how much closer it can get.

Things don’t seem to be changing any time soon – Ogg Vorbis, the free, open-source audio codec, was removed from HTML5 after opposition from Apple and Nokia.

Since there is no standardized, Free (in the “Libre” software definition) way of adding sound to a Web page, it looks like Web developers will need to use techniques pioneered by Jules Gravinese for Scriptaculous, wait the for next JavaScript audio innovation, or use Flash, which we all know belongs to Adobe.

posted in: web standards

This post was published on Monday, March 3, 2008 at 2:47 pm

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1

Freelance Web Development

March 7, 2008 at 7:49 pm

Ryan,

Thank you for the mention!

I’ve always found the lack of sound in UIs bothersome. Since Mac OS 8 I’ve used extensions to add sounds. Back then it was control panel called Kaboom!. When Mac OS X came along, I used Xounds by Unsanity.

I think most web developers (and/or their clients) get caught up in ‘make an electronic version of this brochure’ (Brochures do not make sound so why should a UI?).

Some simple unobtrusive audio can really make a website pop:
http://www.harmonicdrive.net/aboutus/locations/
http://www.sparklersonline.com/

BTW, jQuery’s plugin is just a re-written Scriptaculous version (last time I looked), which itself is the re-written JavaScript version that I wrote.

I find it so odd that so many large companies are using Scriptaculous, but are not tapping into the audio capabilities.

Jules