accessibility-guidelines

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Language of parts

Does your page include content in more than one language? (For example, a page in English with a paragraph in Welsh).
→ In code, identify the language of each part of the page.

When content is displayed in a language that is different from the primary language of the page, it must be indicated in a way that assistive technologies understand.

On this page:

Requirements
Guidance for Design
Guidance for Web
More info

Requirements

Content that is written in a different language from the main language of the page, should be identified in code.

For multi-lingual content, the language for anything that varies from the default language of the page or app must be defined in the local code for the correct speech synthesizer to be used. This includes image alternatives, form labels, quotes, objects, media alternatives, and other elements. It will over-ride the specified default language and any language and dialect setting specified on the users device.

Example

The homepage of the website of the Canadian Government is written in English, so it has <html lang="en">. On the homepage, there’s link to access the version written in French. The link text reads “Français”. The link text is written in French, so the language of the link text is identified with <a lang="fr">.

Common mistakes

Content uses a different language, but the change in language is not identified in code;
Content uses a different language, but the wrong language is identified in code.

Why?

This ensures that screen readers switch to the appropriate accent and pronunciation for that language.

When listening, correct pronunciation helps understanding. For users of assistive technologies such as screen readers it is particularly important, as some have different speech synthesizers for different languages. For example, “chat” means something different when using English pronunciation rather than French.

Official wording in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

3.1.2 Language of Parts: The human language of each passage or phrase in the content can be programmatically determined except for proper names, technical terms, words of indeterminate language, and words or phrases that have become part of the vernacular of the immediately surrounding text. (Level AA)

See the W3C’s detailed explanation of this guideline with techniques and examples.

Guidance for Design

If a part of a page (like a section or a button) will be written in a language that’s not the same as the main language of the page, make sure that you highlight this to developers on your designs.

Guidance for Web

After having identified the main language of the page using the lang attribute on the html element, use the lang attribute again on any part of the document that is written in a different language.

Note: It’s better to only use the two-letter code representing the language (like lang="en"), rather than including the country as well (like lang="en-gb" or lang="en-us"):

If you use lang="en-gb", the content will be pronounced by screen readers with a British accent, regardless of the users’ preferences. That’s not ideal.
If you use just lang="en", the content will be pronounced with the accent that matches the users’ preferences.

Examples

<html lang="en">
  ...
  <body>
    <p>This page is written in English.</p>
    <p lang="fr">Sauf pour ce qui est écrit en français.</p>
  </body>
</html>

<html lang="en">
  ...
  <h2>Upcoming Spanish Holidays</h2>
  <p lang="es">Les Fogueres de Sant Joan.</p>
  ...
</html>

Failure example

<html>
  ...
  <h2>Upcoming Spanish Holidays</h2>
  <p>Les Fogueres de Sant Joan.</p>
  ...
</html>

More guidance for Web

Using language attributes on the html element technique in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
Using language attributes to identify changes in the human language technique in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
Using the HTML lang attribute by The Paciello Group
Working with Language on the Web - W3C i18n tutorial
Language on the Web
On Use of the Lang attribute by Adrian Roselli

More info

Sources

W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1
Government Digital Service WCAG 2.1 Primer
Using the HTML lang attribute by Léonie Watson and The Paciello Group
Barclays’ Accessibility Design Standards
The BBC’s Mobile Accessibility Guidelines

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