Matan · WCAG · Perceivable

Page language

WCAG 3.1.1: the default human language of the page must be programmatically determined.

Pass condition in our engine: <html> has a lang attribute.

1. Problem description

Without lang on <html>, screen readers may use the wrong voice and pronunciation. Translation tools and crawlers also guess. A wrong lang (en on a Polish page) is almost as bad as a missing one.

2. Most common causes

  • The HTML boilerplate omitted lang.
  • A multi-language CMS forgot to set it per locale.
  • lang is set only via JavaScript.

3. How to fix it

  1. Add lang="en", lang="pl", or the correct BCP 47 code on <html>.
  2. Match the primary language of the content.
  3. Set lang on inner elements only for genuine mixed-language passages.

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