The API restricts autoplay options to current status quo

[sushraja-msft]

https://w3c.github.io/autoplay/#autoplay-policy
enum AutoplayPolicy {
"allowed",
"allowed-muted",
"disallowed"
};

With Edge we are still working through how to improve auto play for users, and this is a top customer feedback we get. The above set of options restricts us from trying different ways to solve autoplay issues. For example, if we wanted to prompt users for permission to autoplay the above set does not give us the flexibility to pursue that option.

[alastor0325]

Per previous decision, the API itself should be synchrous. For Edge's use case, if the response has to be waited until user responses to the prompt, then Edge should return disallowed when the script is asking for the result. Because AutoplayPolicy indicates the current situaition, and prompting to users doesn't guarantee that users would response to the prompt in a fixed time.

Firefox did an exactly same research before, we prompt to users and ask them if they want to allow the website to autoplay or not. From the data we collected, most users simply didn't response to the prompt, and many users even thought that prompt is a part of the design website, not the design of the browser itself.

[sushraja-msft]

It would be problematic to return disallowed since the site is going to make decisions based on that response to choose to replace the video with say an image. While we want the site to play the video once the user responds to the prompt.

[alastor0325]

In the current version of the specification, it has clearly mentioned that result can vary in the future. The case you mentioned can also be seen for a user-agent using the user gesture activation, where the result would be disallowed until a user performs supported user gestures on the page (eg. click)

You can't never predict the site's and user's behavior correctly because you won't know when a user or a site makes their decision.

[chrisn]

@sushraja-msft Thank you for your feedback on the spec. Please let me know if you'd like time in an upcoming meeting to discuss in person.

[sushraja-msft]

Ill hope in on the call March 8th :)

[chrisn]

Minutes from discussion at Mar 8 2022 meeting: https://www.w3.org/2022/03/08-mediawg-minutes.html#t01