missing-lang-attribute

Description

Add a correct lang attribute for any language change within your content. This ensures assistive technologies, such as screen readers, can switch to the correct pronunciation and translation. Correctly identifying language changes is essential for users who rely on these tools to understand your content.

The missing-lang-attribute rule aligns with WCAG Success Criterion 3.1.2 (Language of Parts). This criterion requires that the human language of a passage or phrase is programmatically determinable.

Examples

The following example shows text with a French phrase that is not marked with a lang attribute. This violates the missing-lang-attribute rule because assistive technologies will not know to pronounce “Bonjour” correctly.

The following corrected example uses a element with the lang=”fr” attribute to mark the French word. This ensures that assistive technologies can correctly identify and pronounce the language change.

How to fix?

To fix violations of the missing-lang-attribute rule, follow these steps:

• Identify content in a language different from the document’s primary language.

• Wrap the text in an appropriate element, such as a <span> or <blockquote>.

• Add a lang attribute to the element. The attribute’s value must be an ISO 639-1 language code, such as en for English or fr for French.

Reference

WCAG Success Criterion 3.1.2: Language of Parts