Section A.7. Aural Styles

A.7. Aural Styles

A.7.1. azimuth

This property sets the angle along the horizontal plane (otherwise known as the horizon) from which a sound should seem to emanate. This is used in conjunction with elevation to place the sound at a point on a hypothetical sphere with the user at its center.

Values:

<angle> | [[ left-side | far-left | left | center-left | center | center-right | right | far-right | right-side ] || behind ] | leftwards | rightwards | inherit

Initial value:

center

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

Yes

Computed value:

Normalized angle

A.7.2. cue

This is a shorthand property that allows an author to define cues that precede and follow the audio rendering of an element's content. A "cue" is something like an auditory icon.

Values:

[ <cue-before> || <cue-after> ] | inherit

Initial value:

none

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

No

Computed value:

See individual properties (cue-before, etc.)

A.7.3. cue-after

This property allows an author to define a cue that follows the audio rendering of an element's content.

Values:

<uri> | none | inherit

Initial value:

none

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

No

Computed value:

For <uri> values, the absolute URI; otherwise, none

A.7.4. cue-before

This property allows an author to define a cue that precedes the audio rendering of an element's content.

Values:

<uri> | none | inherit

Initial value:

none

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

No

Computed value:

For <uri> values, the absolute URI; otherwise, none

A.7.5. elevation

This property sets the angle above or below the horizontal plane (otherwise known as the horizon) from which a sound should seem to emanate. This is used in conjunction with azimuth to place the sound at a point on a hypothetical sphere with the user at its center.

Values:

<angle> | below | level | above | higher | lower | inherit

Initial value:

level

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

Yes

Computed value:

Normalized angle

A.7.6. pause

This is a shorthand property that allows an author to define pauses that precede and follow the audio rendering of an element's content. A "pause" is an interval in which no content is audibly rendered, although background sounds may still be audible.

Values:

[[<time> | <percentage>]{1,2} ] | inherit

Initial value:

0

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

No

Computed value:

See individual properties (pause-before, etc.)

A.7.7. pause-after

This property allows an author to define the length of a pause that follows the audio rendering of an element's content.

Values:

<time> | <percentage> | inherit

Initial value:s:

0

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

No

Computed value:

The absolute time value

A.7.8. pause-before

This property allows an author to define the length of a pause that precedes the audio rendering of an element's content.

Values:

<time> | <percentage> | inherit

Initial values:

0

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

No

Computed value:

The absolute time value

A.7.9. pitch

Specifies the average pitch (frequency) of the speaking voice used to audibly render the element's content. The average pitch of a voice will depend greatly on the voice family.

Values:

<frequency> | x-low | low | medium | high | x-high | inherit

Initial value:

medium

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

Yes

Computed value:

The absolute frequency value

A.7.10. pitch-range

This property specifies the variation in average pitch used by the speaking voice, while audibly rendering the element's content. The higher the variation, the more "animated" the voice will sound.

Values:

<number> | inherit

Initial value:

50

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

Yes

Computed value:

As specified

A.7.11. play-during

This provides a sound to be played "in the background" while the element's contents are audibly rendered. The sound can be mixed with other background sounds (set using play-during on an ancestor element), or it can replace other sounds for the duration of the element's audio rendering.

Values:

<uri> | [mix || repeat]? | auto | none | inherit

Initial value:

auto

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

No

Computed value:

For <uri> values, the absolute URI; otherwise, as specified

A.7.12. richness

This property sets the "brightness" of the speaking voice used when audibly rendering the element's content. The brighter the voice, the more it will "carry."

Values:

<number> | inherit

Initial value:

50

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

yes

Computed value:

As specified

A.7.13. speak

This determines how an element's contents will be audibly rendered, or indeed if they will be rendered at all. The value spell-out is typically used for acronyms and abbreviations, such as W3C or CSS. If the value is none, the element is skipped (it takes no time to be audibly rendered).

Values:

normal | none | spell-out | inherit

Initial value:

normal

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

Yes

Computed value:

As specified

A.7.14. speak-header

This specifies whether the content of table headers is spoken before every cell associated with those headers, or only when the header associated with a cell is different from the header associated with the previously rendered cell.

Values:

once | always | inherit

Initial value:

once

Applies to:

Elements containing table header information

Inherited:

Yes

Computed value:

As specified

A.7.15. speak-numeral

This property determines how numbers are spoken during audible rendering.

Values:

digits | continuous | inherit

Initial value:

continuous

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

Yes

Computed value:

As specified

A.7.16. speak-punctuation

This property determines how punctuation is spoken during audible rendering. The value code causes punctuation symbols to be rendered literally.

Values:

code | none | inherit

Initial value:

none

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

Yes

Computed value:

As specified

A.7.17. speech-rate

This sets the average rate at which words are spoken when an element's content is audibly rendered.

Values:

<number> | x-slow | slow | medium | fast | x-fast | faster | slower | inherit

Initial value:

medium

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

Yes

Computed value:

An absolute number

A.7.18. stress

This property affects the height of peaks in the intonation of a speaking voice. These peaks are in turn generated by stress marks within a language.

Values:

<number> | inherit

Initial value:

50

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

Yes

Computed value:

As specified

A.7.19. voice-family

This property is used to define a list of voice families that can be used in the audio rendering of an element's content, and is comparable to font-family. The permitted generic voices are male, female, and child.

Values:

[[<specific-voice> | <generic-voice> ],]* [<specific-voice> | <generic-voice> ] | inherit

Initial value:

User agent-dependent

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

Yes

Computed value:

As specified

A.7.20. volume

This sets the median volume level for the waveform of the audibly rendered content. Thus, a waveform with large peaks and valleys may go well above or below the volume level set with this property. Note that 0 is not the same as silent.

Values:

<number> | <percentage> | silent | x-soft | soft | medium | loud | x-loud | inherit

Initial value:

medium

Applies to:

All elements

Inherited:

Yes

Computed value:

An absolute number