Main content

Language

WCAG 2.1

  • 3.1.1: Level A
  • 3.1.2: Level AA
  • The language of a page must be specified
  • Changes to language within the page must be indicated.

Assistive technologies such as screen readers have support for different languages, allowing for appropriate pronunciation.

Techniques

Pass

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-GB">
<head>
    <title>Language techniques</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Techniques for language in HTML</h1>
    <p><span lang="es">Cinco de Mayo</span> is Spanish for "fifth of May"</p>
</body>
</html>

Fail

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Language techniques</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Techniques for language in HTML</h1>
    <p>Cinco de Mayo is Spanish for "fifth of May"</p>
</body>
</html>

Tests

Procedure Expected Result Type
Search source for <html> element <html> element must have a lang attribute with a value equal to the language code for the main page content language Manual
Validate the page against the W3C Internationalization Checker There must not be a ‘The html tag has no language attribute’ warning, and the Language HTML tag value should match the language code for the main page content language Tool
Search source for each instance of a language change Each instance should have a containing element with a lang attribute with a value equal to the language code for the language Manual
back to top