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Add a language attribute
A lang attribute on the <html> tag declares the page's primary language to both search engines and browsers. Search engines use it to match pages to the right locale of searcher, and it also drives how screen readers pronounce the content, the same signal accessibility relies on.
Why it matters
Without a declared language, search engines may serve the page to the wrong locale's audience and screen readers may mispronounce content, hurting both reach and accessibility.
How to fix
- 1 Add a lang attribute to the <html> tag (e.g. lang="en").
- 2 Use the correct regional variant if content targets a specific locale.
Common mistakes
- Setting a generic lang="en" on a page whose content is actually written in a regional variant or a different language entirely.
- Setting the attribute once on a static template but not updating it for pages that are dynamically translated or localized.
- Declaring the wrong language for embedded content (e.g. a quoted foreign-language passage) instead of scoping a lang attribute to just that element.
How to verify
- 1 View page source and confirm the <html> tag has a lang attribute matching the actual page content.
- 2 Run the page through an HTML validator or accessibility checker that flags missing/incorrect lang attributes.
- 3 Listen to the page with a screen reader and confirm pronunciation matches the intended language.
Related checks
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