BP_4003_en.md

Avoid autoplay for videos and audio content

Identifiers

GreenIT	V2	V3	V4

Categories

Life cycle	Tiers	Responsible
5. Use	User/Device	Software Architect/Developer

Indications

Priority	Implementation difficulty	Ecological impact
4	3	4

Saved resources
Processor / Network / Queries

Description

Automatic videos and audio files activation (autoplay) during web pages loading uses resources on each tier (device, network, data center). In many cases, automatic playback is not necessary. Moreover, it can draw users' attention and distract them from the initially requested service. Therefore, whenever possible, these playbacks should be initiated by the users and by not using the autoplay attributes in the

Nevertheless, some parts of the video or audio files may be downloaded even if autoplay is not activated. Moreover, data will be unnecessarily downloaded even if users do not start the video playback. It is therefore necessary to force browsers not to preload anything by setting the

Example

Video:

<video src="audiofile.webm" preload="none"></video>

Audio:

<audio controls src="audiofile.mp3" preload="none"></audio>

Validation rule

The number of ...	is equal to or less than
	0