New Audio Player Arrives On NPR.org

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NPR launches a new NPR.org audio player today that works smoothly across platforms and deepens listeners' connections with member stations.

Whatever your digital screen, the new experience plays NPR programs, stories, podcasts, member station streams, latest newscasts, NPR Music's First Listen albums and live events, and much more. Opportunities to begin listening are now available on more NPR.org pages than ever.

The site-wide system provides easy access to your listening controls and ensures your audio keeps playing as you navigate between pages. Nearly every audio offering on the site has received a fresh and more engaging design.

You also always have quick access to listening from your NPR member station. The station box already available in NPR.org's navigation now lets you play a station's live stream, and the player itself offers more.

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Once activated, the player offers three types of audio, with offerings for both news and music listeners:

Our Picks. In the News section, you can hear the latest national newscast, the latest local newscast (when available from your member station) and editors' picks (the latest editor-picked stories from NPR One). In the Music section, you can navigate to NPR Music's top listening destinations as well as selection of popular stories from NPR Music editors.

In the News section, you can hear the latest national newscast, the latest local newscast (when available from your member station) and editors' picks (the latest editor-picked stories from NPR One). In the Music section, you can navigate to NPR Music's top listening destinations as well as selection of popular stories from NPR Music editors. Live Radio. In News, this section displays all live streams available from your local station — and an option to change your station. When in NPR Music, the section provides a mix of top music streams from member stations and NPR Music, across different genres.

In News, this section displays all live streams available from your local station — and an option to change your station. When in NPR Music, the section provides a mix of top music streams from member stations and NPR Music, across different genres. Shows. Both the News and Music sections offer quick links to NPR's deep program archives, rich in listening opportunities.

Depending on the device you use, the player may encourage you to queue many stories and podcasts for extended listening.

The new player also introduces new possibilities for NPR sponsors that are both engaging and respectful to audiences. A sponsor's reach can now extend throughout NPR's digital audio experiences, including podcasts and NPR One listening.

With today's upgrade, NPR further embraces the latest in Web development. The new audio player uses HTML5's media abilities and interface toolkits such as React to replace several previous NPR players, including a Flash pop-up player. The new player also begins to use the audio infrastructure that powers NPR One and retains many of NPR.org's recent speed gains.

Work on the new player continues after the launch, as the NPR.org team fine-tunes the experience, fixes any significant issues and adds several features. Please report any issues you encounter at help.npr.org.

Patrick Cooper is director of Web and engagement at NPR.