Auto-play of video with sound but no user controls

[PeterKnoop]

Our goal is to have auto-play videos with sound on, but no user sound controls displayed. This combination is not currently supported by the StoryMaps video player settings.

We are using StoryMaps this way for interactive museum exhibits. We would like for some videos to auto-play as the visitor scrolls through the story on a large touchscreen monitor, however, we do not want the visitor to be able to mute/unmute or otherwise change the video's sound level.

Presenting the settings for auto-play, sound on/off, volume level, play/pause, maximize/minimize, loop/don't loop, etc. as distinct options could help support a wider variety of use cases, including the one described above.

(In a Sidecar, you can use an embed as a workaround by embedding your own web page with your own video player configured as you need. This workaround is not currently compatible with the Map Tour block, however, as it only supports adding images or videos.)

[kamaya]

I ran into this issue before and found that browser policy dictates that auto-play videos are only allowed muted. So this affects all sites, not just StoryMaps. In the case of StoryMaps, you would have to rightclick on the video on desktop and select show controls.

More info on the browser autoplay policy here: https://sproutvideo.com/help/articles/161-why_are_some_autoplaying_videos_muted

[PeterKnoop]

@kamaya that is the case for many modern browsers, however, Edge has supported permitting autoplay on Windows and macOS since version 93. (See AutoplayAllowed and AutoplayAllowlist, which can also be set in Edge's Settings user interface.) 

For a museum exhibit computer setup in kiosk mode, we can ensure the visitor is using Edge to view the StoryMap, and take advantage of this setting. 

Currently, however, adding storymaps.arcgis.com to Edge's allowed list doesn't achieve the desired goal. It appears that StoryMaps itself is opting to mute the video, rather than letting the browser's settings decide what to do.

[kamaya]

@PeterKnoop I did not say that browsers do not allow autoplay. I stated that browsers do not allow videos set to autoplay to start with sound. That is why autoplay videos are automatically muted. I hope this clarifies my previous comment.

[PeterKnoop]

@kamaya Sorry, I should've been clearer. Those settings permit you to have a video autoplay that is not muted in Edge. Here's a demo:

1. Configure Edge to allow autoplay for any site. (I wouldn't leave it this way; Settings --> Cookies and Site Permissions --> Media autoplay)
2. Open this story and the video will start with sound and play on a loop.

(Note that this is with embedding an iframe that points to a page outside of StoryMaps that contains the video tag, not the StoryMaps video player. Apologies for the shaky video; it was all that was handy at the time.)

It is a simple solution best suited to when you have only one video at the start of the story that you want to play.

[kamaya]

@PeterKnoop I see. Thank you for the clarification and for showing the workaround with edge, it will be useful for our own use cases.