Different Ways to Play a Sound from a Web Page

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5. Using a Background Sound and JavaScript

It is possible to do much the same as the above without the use of a hidden player if the browser supports the BGSOUND tag (in practice only Internet Explorer). Basically background sounds play as soon as the source sound is available; so the trick is to specify the source only in response to a JavaScript function. Here is the BGSOUND tag and the function:

<bgsound id="sound">
<script>
function PlaySound(url) {
  document.all.sound.src = url;
}
</script>

Here are examples of a link, an image and a button calling the function.

<a href="#" onMouseOver="PlaySound('success.wav')">Move mouse here</A>

Move mouse here.

<img src="play.gif" onClick="PlaySound('success.wav')">

<form>
<input type="button" value="Play Sound" onClick="PlaySound('success.wav')">
</form>

Compatibility: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Chrome.

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