EngineeringScoreAccessibility Small
Add a language attribute
Screen readers use the lang attribute on <html> to choose which pronunciation rules and voice to use. Without it, or with an incorrect value, a screen reader may read English content with a different language's pronunciation rules, making the page difficult or impossible to understand for blind and low-vision visitors.
Why it matters
Without a declared language, screen readers may mispronounce every word on the page, making the site effectively unusable for blind and low-vision visitors.
How to fix
- 1 Add a lang attribute to the <html> tag matching the page's primary language.
- 2 Use the correct region subtag when it matters (e.g. lang="en-GB" vs "en-US") so pronunciation and locale-specific behavior are accurate.
- 3 Verify with a screen reader or an HTML lang validator that the declared language matches the actual page content.
Common mistakes
- Leaving the attribute off entirely on legacy pages that were never audited for accessibility.
- Declaring a language at the top level but not scoping inline lang attributes to passages actually written in a different language.
- Setting the wrong regional variant (e.g. lang="en" for content that is specifically British English idioms and spelling), which is a smaller but still real pronunciation mismatch.
How to verify
- 1 View page source and confirm the <html> tag declares a lang attribute matching the actual page language.
- 2 Test with a real screen reader (VoiceOver, NVDA) and confirm pronunciation sounds correct.
- 3 Run an automated accessibility checker (e.g. axe, Lighthouse) and confirm no missing-lang violations are reported.
Related checks
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