Cloud Computing and Management of Browser Audio Elements

Cloud Computing has made the Management of Browser Audio Elements easier with the advent of Edge Computing and Content Distribution Network. The use of audio content within an application or Web site is often overlooked. The reason is simple : the practice to include a soundtrack in the background of a Web page is a poor choice. Each time the user returns to the site is forced to listen again and again to the same sound or tune. The presence of a constant sound elements on the Web is strongly discouraged. This does not mean that we must give up audio component completely. For example, if our site offers the purchase of music, it would probably be very useful to allow users to listen to the preview of the songs purchased or, if you offer media or podcasting, you may want to play the audio elements in the Web page itself. You can read our previously published article to know how to handle Podcasts in WordPress.

Basic Concepts of Cloud Computing and Browser Audio Elements

In addition to these scenarios, there is another possible application of audio elements. Most users are accustomed to interactive interfaces that respond with a short beep after each interaction. Think of the colors of the buttons on a phone, a cell phone or just the typical sounds of an operating system, such as the characteristic beep notifying you of an email or a message on chat. Sounds like this can increase the usability of a Web interface when the user click, drag, or select an item from the page, a short sound can be used to provide immediate feedback to the user. For all of these reasons, we need to know about Cloud Computing and Management of Browser Audio Elements.

Cloud Computing and Management of Browser Audio Elements

Cloud Computing and Management of Browser Audio Elements has two components : The traditional way that is the basic still followed plus the newer advantages and their proper application for the best result. This use of audio elements is quite rare itself. The reason is probable risk of less cross-browser support of these components. When we use an audio element ,we have to deal with different formats, different operating systems and different browsers. Virtually the risk of having to manage (or at least check) the correct operation of the interface for all possible combinations of these three variables: audio format, operating system, browser is needed. The HTML or JavaScript code that implements the management of audio elements is likely to become complex, difficult to maintain, especially prone to become quickly obsolete.

Historically, the most common solution is to rely on plugins installed in the browser, such as QuickPlay or Flash. This is a good solution because it shifts the problem from the HTML technology available in the browser. However there are some contraindications. The other way is to use the new HTML5 audio tag or use some HTML5 Streaming Audio solution or Player like we mentioned before. This is perhaps the best solution in the long term, because in the coming months the support of the tag should accelerate more and more. Another alternative is to use some JavaScript library : this is also a good solution.

Different browsers typically support different audio formats, for example, the time of this writing, Opera does not support the MP3 format, but Internet Explorer does not support WAV format. The result is that we have to write cross-browser code to use the right size on the right browser. Plugin is an optional element that serves to improve the performance on the audio, but is a necessary component. Without the plugin, browser does not play the sound. Since we can not assume that all users have installed (or want to install) “our” plugin or likely to spend time and resources on a feature that could remain silent.

But we must remember that JavaScript is a technology does not always active in all browsers. In some cases (for very cautious users) JavaScript may be disabled in the browser. In other cases, the user may not be able to turn to adhere to policies, which sometimes require the use of a specific browser and the requirement to disable JavaScript.

These considerations, combined with the recent progress in the implementation of HTML5 . Suggest that we can begin to look to the future with more optimism, that bet on the support of the new audio implementation methods introduced with HTML5.