Define the language of the page
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How to define the language of the page?
Add a lang attribute to the html element with a valid language code.
For English this would be:
<html lang="en">
<!-- content -->
</html>
Valid language codes are either two-letter or three-letter language codes. You can find the list of valid language codes in the ISO 639-1 code list.
Why is this important?
The use cases for the <html lang> attribute are:
- Screen readers
- Translation such as Google Translate
- Spellchecking
- Localized date and time input
It is crucial to define a valid lang attribute on the html tag. A screen reader uses the lang attribute to select the corresponding language to speak the text if that language is available.
More info:
Rule info
Standard
WCAG A SC 3.1.1
User impact
Serious impact Significantly hinders users with disabilities. Should be fixed as a high priority. Critical : blocks access entirely Serious : significantly hinders use Moderate : causes difficulty Minor : minimal disruptionFix complexity
Medium level of technical expertise required To resolve this issue, you might need some technical background. It is possible to fix this issue without needing a software developer. This depends on the Content Management System (CMS) that your website is built with.Affects
Visual People with vision related disabilities can include those with color blindness, low vision, or complete blindness. Providing alternative text (also known as alt text) for graphical content is especially important for these individuals, as it allows assistive technologies such as screen readers to describe the content to them.
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