No Site Should Ever Use Autoplay

[marjaerwin]

It is obnoxious and it is an accessibility problem.

For example:

http://a11yproject.com/posts/never-use-auto-play/

Sound

People using screen-readers navigate by listening, so any sound playing when the page loads will interfere immensely. [...]

Vision

Vision includes video and CSS/JavaScript animations like slide-shows and carousels.

Some groups of people, such as those with certain types of learning difficulties, can find it hard to concentrate or focus on tasks. These groups may have a problem with moving content on a web page that starts without warning.

I have sensory processing issues, so animation, including flashing, animated gifs, zooming, and certain types of scrolling, can be very painful and headache-inducing. I actually use a number of tools to block many of these things.

I would add that many users use tabs, so even abled users may have trouble with autoplay...

Also:

http://www.prettysimple.co.uk/blog/index.php/2009/07/autoplaying-videos/