TextTrack

The TextTrack interface—part of the API for handling WebVTT (text tracks on media presentations)—describes and controls the text track associated with a particular <track> element.

Properties

This interface also inherits properties from EventTarget.

TextTrack.activeCues Read only
A TextTrackCueList object listing the currently active set of text track cues. Track cues are active if the current playback position of the media is between the cues' start and end times. Thus, for displayed cues such as captions or subtitles, the active cues are currently being displayed.
TextTrack.cues Read only
A TextTrackCueList which contains all of the track's cues.
TextTrack.id Read only
A DOMString which identifies the track, if it has one. If it doesn't have an ID, then this value is an empty string (""). If the TextTrack is associated with a <track> element, then the track's ID matches the element's ID.
TextTrack.inBandMetadataTrackDispatchType Read only
Returns a DOMString which indicates the track's in-band metadata track dispatch type. needs details
TextTrack.kind Read only
Returns a DOMString indicating what kind of text track the TextTrack describes. The value must be one of those in the TextTrackKind enum.
TextTrack.label Read only
A human-readable DOMString which contains the text track's label, if one is present; otherwise, this is an empty string (""), in which case a custom label may need to be generated by your code using other attributes of the track, if the track's label needs to be exposed to the user.
TextTrack.language Read only
A DOMString which specifies the text language in which the text track's contents is written. The value must adhere to the format specified in the Tags for Identifying Languages (BCP 47) document from the IETF, just like the HTML lang attribute. For example, this can be "en-US" for United States English or "pt-BR" for Brazilian Portuguese.
TextTrack.mode
A DOMString specifying the track's current mode. Changing this property's value changes the track's current mode to match. Permitted values are listed under Text track mode constants. The default is disabled, unless the <track> element's default Boolean attribute is specified, in which case the default mode is started.

Events

cuechange
Fired when cues are entered and exited. A given text cue appears when the cue is entered and disappears when the cue is exited.
Also available via the oncuechange property.

Methods

This interface also inherits methods from EventTarget.

TextTrack.addCue()
Adds a cue (specified as a TextTrackCue object to the track's list of cues.
TextTrack.removeCue()
Removes a cue (specified as a TextTrackCue object from the track's list of cues.

Example

tbd

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
HTML Living Standard
The definition of 'TextTrack' in that specification.
Living Standard

Browser compatibility

DesktopMobile
ChromeEdgeFirefoxInternet ExplorerOperaSafariAndroid webviewChrome for AndroidFirefox for AndroidOpera for AndroidSafari on iOSSamsung Internet
TextTrackChrome Full support 18Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 31
Notes
Full support 31
Notes
Notes Firefox versions before Firefox 50 didn't display captions when playing media without one or more video tracks being played.
IE Full support 10Opera Full support 15Safari Full support 6WebView Android Full support 4.4Chrome Android Full support 18Firefox Android Full support 31Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS Full support 7Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
activeCuesChrome Full support 18Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 31
Notes
Full support 31
Notes
Notes Starting in Firefox 69, cues are no longer incorrectly loaded when the TextTrack's mode is disabled; if that's the case, the returned list is empty.
IE Full support 10Opera Full support 15Safari Full support 6WebView Android Full support 4.4Chrome Android Full support 18Firefox Android Full support 31Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS Full support 7Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
addCueChrome Full support 18Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 31IE Full support 10Opera Full support 15Safari Full support 6WebView Android Full support 4.4Chrome Android Full support 18Firefox Android Full support 31Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS Full support 7Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
cuechange eventChrome Full support YesEdge Full support 12Firefox Full support 31IE ? Opera ? Safari Full support YesWebView Android Full support YesChrome Android Full support YesFirefox Android Full support 31Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS ? Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
cuesChrome Full support 18Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 31
Notes
Full support 31
Notes
Notes Starting in Firefox 69, cues are no longer incorrectly loaded when the TextTrack's mode is disabled; if that's the case, the returned list is empty.
IE Full support 10Opera Full support 15Safari Full support 6WebView Android Full support 4.4Chrome Android Full support 18Firefox Android Full support 31Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS Full support 7Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
idChrome Full support 18Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 31IE Full support 10Opera Full support 15Safari Full support 6WebView Android Full support 4.4Chrome Android Full support 18Firefox Android Full support 31Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS Full support 7Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
inBandMetadataTrackDispatchTypeChrome Full support 18Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 31IE Full support 10Opera Full support 15Safari Full support 6WebView Android Full support 4.4Chrome Android Full support 18Firefox Android Full support 31Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS Full support 7Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
kindChrome Full support 18Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 31IE Full support 10Opera Full support 15Safari Full support 6WebView Android Full support 4.4Chrome Android Full support 18Firefox Android Full support 31Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS Full support 7Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
labelChrome Full support 18Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 31IE Full support 10Opera Full support 15Safari Full support 6WebView Android Full support 4.4Chrome Android Full support 18Firefox Android Full support 31Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS Full support 7Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
languageChrome Full support 18Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 31IE Full support 10Opera Full support 15Safari Full support 6WebView Android Full support 4.4Chrome Android Full support 18Firefox Android Full support 31Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS Full support 7Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
modeChrome Full support 18Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 31
Notes
Full support 31
Notes
Notes Before Firefox 52, using JavaScript to change the mode of a text track that's part of a media element would send one change event to the element's textTracks TextTrackList for each change, even if mutliple changes are made in a single pass through the Firefox event loop. Starting in Firefox 52, these changes are reflected by a single event.
IE Full support 10Opera Full support 15Safari Full support 6WebView Android Full support 4.4Chrome Android Full support 18Firefox Android Full support 31Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS Full support 7Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
oncuechangeChrome Full support YesEdge Full support 12Firefox Full support 31IE ? Opera Full support YesSafari Full support YesWebView Android Full support YesChrome Android Full support YesFirefox Android Full support 31Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS ? Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
removeCueChrome Full support 18Edge Full support 12Firefox Full support 31IE Full support 10Opera Full support 15Safari Full support 6WebView Android Full support 4.4Chrome Android Full support 18Firefox Android Full support 31Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS Full support 7Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
sourceBufferChrome No support NoEdge No support NoFirefox ? IE ? Opera ? Safari Full support YesWebView Android No support NoChrome Android No support NoFirefox Android ? Opera Android No support NoSafari iOS ? Samsung Internet Android No support No

Legend

Full support
Full support
No support
No support
Compatibility unknown
Compatibility unknown
See implementation notes.
See implementation notes.

See also