

It’s always a good idea to explicitly specify the width and height for elements to avoid layout flickering ( cumulative layout shift) when the video is loaded in. width and height: These attributes define the video player’s dimensions on the web page.You can customize the element’s appearance and behavior using various attributes. Within the opening and closing tags, you can include a fallback message that is shown if the user’s browser does not support the element. Your browser does not support the video tag. To create and set up a simple element, use it in your HTML markup like so: Also, like any other HTML tag, you can customize its appearance and behavior with CSS. This element serves as a container for video, providing a browser native video player – without needing JavaScript – letting you specify a path for the video file you want to embed, define its attributes, and customize playback behavior. HTML5 provides a tag to embed video in web pages, much like the familiar element was for embedding images. The HTML5 video API provides a set of methods and properties that allow developers to control and manipulate video elements in web pages. Let's dive in! How does the HTML5 video API work?

This article will explore the HTML5 video API, looking at its features and benefits. HTML5 video revolutionized multimedia delivery and the overall user experience across devices and platforms for consumers and developers alike. This had numerous problems – external plugin dependencies, compatibility issues across browsers, complex web development because of fragmentation – and crashes and slowdowns were common. It introduced and standardized the element, enabling native embedding, playback, and manipulation of video content in the browser.īefore HTML5, third-party plugins like Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight (or, less commonly, QuickTime/Windows Media Player) were needed for web video. The HTML5 specification, officially recommended by the W3C in 2014, provided native support for video content on the web.
