Applicability
- Microsoft Silverlight, versions 3 and greater
- Silverlight managed programming model and Silverlight XAML
Microsoft has stopped updating and distributing Silverlight, and authors are encouraged to use HTML for accessible web content.
This technique relates to Success Criterion 1.4.2: Audio Control (Sufficient).
Description
The objective of this technique is to adjust the volume for media
that is played in Silverlight applications, as implemented through
incorporating the Silverlight MediaElement
object.
By default, a MediaElement
will start playing its
media as soon as the UI loads completely AND the media source file
is downloaded. For details, see .
At any given time, a Silverlight MediaElement
is associated
with exactly one media source as specified by the Source
property
URI value. That source might be audio-only, or audio-video. The Volume property
of MediaElement
affects the audio playback volume
of that particular source when it is playing. The Silverlight plug-in
does not have a user option that adjusts the volume of ALL Silverlight
applications as run within it, or a standardized user interface that
is always present for all uses of MediaElement
. Therefore
it is the responsibility of Silverlight application authors to provide
an adequate set of user interface controls, including volume adjustment,
whenever the Silverlight application plays media that has an audio
component.
Examples
Example 1: Providing a volume control and a Mute control as part of a set of user interface controls that go with a MediaElement
In addition to the Play Pause Stop controls, application authors can
also provide a dedicated control that changes the Volume
property
of the MediaElement
. The typical control for setting
a discrete volume is Slider
, because Slider
is
designed for input of discrete values from a range. Adjusting Volume
with
a data bound Slider
changes the volume of any actively
playing media, independent of the system volume or of any other audio
source controlled by Silverlight. For Volume
as set with the Slider
,
the Binding
in XAML declares the interaction between
the control and the MediaElement
, without requiring
an event handler. However, not all users will be able to interact quickly
with a Slider
, particularly if they are not using
a mouse. To help these users, application authors should also include
a "Mute" control. Rather than setting Volume
to
0, application authors should instead set IsMuted
to
true. Note that Volume
and IsMuted
values
are not directly related; if IsMuted
is set to true,
that does not set Volume
to 0, nor does setting Volume
to
zero cause IsMuted
to be set true.
<UserControl x:Class="MediaElementControls.MainPage" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml" > <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot"> <StackPanel> <MediaElement x:Name="media" Source="/xbox.wmv" Width="300" Height="300" AutomationProperties.Name="Video of new Fable game for XBox" /> <Grid Name="UIControls"> <Grid.ColumnDefinitions> <ColumnDefinition Width="*" /> <ColumnDefinition Width="*" /> <ColumnDefinition Width="*"/> </Grid.ColumnDefinitions> <Grid.RowDefinitions> <RowDefinition Height="*" /> <RowDefinition Height="Auto" /> <RowDefinition Height="20" /> </Grid.RowDefinitions> <Button Click="StopMedia" Grid.Column="0" Grid.Row="1" Content="Stop" /> <Button Click="PauseMedia" Grid.Column="1" Grid.Row="1" Content="Pause" /> <Button Click="PlayMedia" Grid.Column="2" Grid.Row="1" Content="Play" /> <Button Click="MuteMedia" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="0" Content="Mute" /> <TextBlock Name="VolumeLabel" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1" HorizontalAlignment="Right">Volume</TextBlock> <Slider Height="20" Value="{Binding Volume, Mode=TwoWay, ElementName=media}" Minimum="0" Maximum="1" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="2" Grid.ColumnSpan="2" AutomationProperties.LabeledBy="{Binding ElementName=VolumeLabel}"/> </Grid> </StackPanel> </Grid> </UserControl>
The following is the C# logic.
private void StopMedia(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { media.Stop(); } private void PauseMedia(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { media.Pause(); } private void PlayMedia(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { media.Play(); } private void MuteMedia(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { Button target = sender as Button; // mute if not muted, unmute if already muted, in either case make sure the button content for text and accessibility info is updated if (!media.IsMuted) { media.IsMuted = true; target.Content = "Unmute"; } else { media.IsMuted = false; target.Content = "Mute"; } }
This example is shown in operation in the working example of Media Element Controls.
Resources
Resources are for information purposes only, no endorsement implied.
- Volume
- Audio and Video Overview
-
Silverlight
Media Framework - a framework and a media player control implementation
that incorporates many of the Silverlight techniques related to
MediaElement
Tests
Procedure
- Using a browser that supports Silverlight, open an HTML page that
references a Silverlight application through an object tag. It is
expected that the application incorporates a
MediaElement
. - Check that a control is available for controlling volume and that the Volume control controls the volume of the playing media, independently from system volume.
- Check that control is available for muting, and that the Mute control mutes the volume of the playing media, independently from system volume.
Expected Results
#2 OR #3 is true.