It's funny really but the whole issue of audio auto-playing in your browser was decided against as a matter of basic internet etiquette by the early 00's. And how we scoffed at those neanderthal 90's websites that would start playing music when you loaded them! The relentless pop-ups too. It all seemed so naive and, well, rude. We thought we were passed it.
And then for some bizarre reason, the last few years has seen the world of web design slipping back into that crass auto-playing tackiness. You can't visit a local news site without the video starting up, usually with ear splitting volume, to give you a completely pointless running commentary of the story that you're trying to read. Go to a band's website and you're treated to a recording of their latest release, whether you want it or not. And then of course you can't visit anyone's blog these days without a full screen pop up asking you to subscribe to their poxy newsletter being smashed into your face.
I'm convinced it's because Millennials are starting to dominate web design, and they're too young to remember the horrors of the 1990's information superhighway. I guess in the absence of internet history lessons, we're doomed to repeat it.