Aural CSS

Aural CSS refers to CSS properties designed to control the auditory presentation of web content, originally specified as the "aural" media type in CSS2 and later revised as the "speech" media type in CSS3. These properties allow web authors to specify how content should be rendered by speech synthesisers, including voice characteristics (voice-family, pitch, pitch-range), volume, speaking rate, spatial audio positioning (azimuth, elevation), pause timing, and cue sounds before and after elements. Aural CSS was intended to give web designers control over the audio presentation of their content in the same way visual CSS controls visual presentation, enabling richer non-visual experiences beyond simple linear reading. While the concept was influential in establishing that audio rendering deserves the same design attention as visual rendering, browser and screen reader support for aural CSS properties has been limited, and the CSS Speech module remains only partially implemented in assistive technologies.