LOWWCAG 3.1.1 A
Missing Lang Attribute
The document root omits the primary language, causing pronunciation and translation ambiguity.
Try It Yourself
Demo warning
Language detection defaults can mispronounce names, acronyms, and multilingual snippets.
Review the sample announcements to see how text can be interpreted in the wrong language context.
Sample mixed-language line:
Gracias for choosing our service, rendez-vous tomorrow.
Possible SR output without page language:
"Grassy-us for choosing... ron-day-vows tomorrow..."
Manual Testing Protocol
Follow this sequence to reproduce the failure consistently and verify the fix with the same workflow.
1. Setup
- Open a page sample containing mixed-language terms.
- Enable SR simulation to review pronunciation output.
2. Reproduction Steps
- Read phrases that include non-English words or proper nouns.
- Observe pronunciation behavior without language metadata.
- Attempt automatic translation preview if available.
3. Expected Failure Signals
- Pronunciation defaults are inconsistent and often incorrect.
- Language inference is unreliable for multilingual content.
- Comprehension drops for mixed-language phrases.
4. Fix Verification
- Root `html` element includes correct default language.
- Inline language switches use `lang` where content language changes.
- Speech output aligns with expected pronunciation in target language.
Evidence Capture Checklist
- Record the exact user goal that fails (for example: submit form, complete checkout, navigate menu).
- Capture screen recording + keyboard path from first interaction to failure state.
- Map failure to WCAG 3.1.1 (Level A) and affected user groups.
- Document business impact: conversion loss, support burden, legal/compliance risk, or trust damage.
The Impact
What Happens
- Text-to-speech pronunciation is less accurate
- Translation tools may infer wrong language
- Internationalized content handling weakens
Who Gets Hurt
Screen reader users
Multilingual audiences
The Broken Code
<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>...</head>
<body>...</body>
</html>
<!-- Missing <html lang="en"> -->WCAG 3.1.1: Reference
"The default human language of each Web page can be programmatically determined."
Level A - A missing language declaration introduces avoidable comprehension errors.
Related Low Issues
Explore neighboring failures in the same severity band.