For CHAMP Live and OnDemand video players, auto-play is not an option. The reason is that desktop browsers have become more strict in how they handle video. The good news is that the experience for your viewers are identical for both mobile and desktop. The bad new is that they have to make one extra click.
Why? Blame Mobile
Back in the day, having your video play as soon as a viewer landed on your page was a commonly implemented feature, at least for the desktop. When the iPhone and Android smart phones launched, mobile browsers strictly prohibited auto-play and continue to do so to this day.
Over the years, desktop browsers have become more strict if and how they allow auto-play videos. You can get more detail here and here but the bottom line is that your viewer must be “engaged” with your domain and show a level of activity in order for auto-play to work.
Mobile devices never had the ability to auto-play video and that level of strictness implemented by web browsers have migrated to the desktop.
Lets Get Nerdy
The most common request is for auto-play to be enabled for your Live Stream, so let’s focus on that player.
Your CHAMP Live player is embedded into your web site. This means that your viewers go to your domain – https://your.municipality.gov – but the Live Player is coming from https://play.champds.com. For this reason, the Live Player doesn’t cross the “Media Engagement Index” threshold to allow auto-play to be enabled. I know, super nerdy stuff, but it’s the reason this feature can’t be enabled.
There are places that you might go, such as YouTube, where you’ll see auto play in action but this is because the video and the site are using the same domain, or viewer trackers are being used to preserve the “engagement”. Since CHAMP doesn’t play those kind of games and we don’t create a portal to draw users away from your web site, auto-play isn’t an option.