HTMLMediaElement: addTextTrack() method

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since July 2015.

The addTextTrack() method of the HTMLMediaElement interface creates a new TextTrack object and adds it to the media element. It fires an addtrack event on this media element's textTracks. This method can't be used on a TextTrackList interface, only an HTMLMediaElement.

Syntax

js
addTextTrack(kind)
addTextTrack(kind, label)
addTextTrack(kind, label, language)

Parameters

kind

A string representing the TextTrack.kind property (subtitles, captions, descriptions, chapters, or metadata).

label

A string representing the TextTrack.label property.

language

A string representing the TextTrack.language property.

Return value

The newly created TextTrack object.

Exceptions

None.

Examples

This example adds a new TextTrack with the kind set to "subtitles", and adds a new VTTCue to that.

js
const video = document.querySelector("video");
const newTrack = video.addTextTrack("subtitles");
newTrack.addCue(new VTTCue(3, 6, "Hello world!"));
console.log(newTrack.cues[0].text);
// "Hello world!"

Specifications

Specification
HTML
# dom-media-addtexttrack-dev

Browser compatibility

Report problems with this compatibility data on GitHub
desktopmobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
addTextTrack

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
Requires a vendor prefix or different name for use.
Has more compatibility info.

See also