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HTML HTML Video and Audio Media Basics The Video Element

Alex Hort-Francis
Alex Hort-Francis
17,074 Points
Posted by Alex Hort-Francis
Alex Hort-Francis
17,074 Points

Is it strictly necessary to include the type attribute in a video or audio element?

As in (the example in the video): type="video/mp4"

Is this absolutely necessary, or considered best practice, or generally optional?

Having tested it myself in Workspaces, it seems video and audio content still loads without the attribute.

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,269 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
231,269 Points

MDN says: "If the MIME type for the video is not set correctly on the server, the video may not show or show a gray box containing an X". I suspect most browsers will also try to infer the type from the filename when not explicitly supplied, which would explain it working without it.