In a recent question, a new user asked how to classify the accent as heard in a video clip from youtube.
However, that required going off-page to hear it, and some users objected to that.
I tried to edit to paste the clip, but was informed by the system that the source format was unacceptable.
I know I have done this on other sites, such as in this answer on Movies & TV.SE, simply by going to the [image] icon and pasting in the link.
Why can't I do that here on EL&U?
In general, language consists of spoken utterances, less often written symbols of some sort, and Sign Language, not excluding non-verbal communication.
When we talk about English skills, it usually includes speaking, writing, reading, and listening.
If we would like to fully participate in the discussion of English Language and Usage, we should be able to entertain questions about accent based on the embedded audio, not a transcription.
It seems that this is not the first time this question/request has been raised: there is a post on Meta going back 7 years, and recently updated by Colleen V. Please help us by up-voting her post.
I know there may be objections even here in our own community based on "abuse", but it should not be different to handling the type of spammy images we sometimes deal with. It would just require some judicious attention to the review queue.
The benefits would out-weigh the costs in time, and just as still photos and screen shots are sometimes needed, this feature could eventually come to be seen as indispensable.
[EDIT] Serendipity, happenstance, I don't know, but a new question popped up in which the off-page link to the audio clip helped identify the dialect and flavor of the usage.
