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Feature - Language

  • WAVE Category: Feature
  • WAVE ACCESSIBILITY PATTERN: Language

Page Content Status

  • WAVE Tool Reference text
  • Example of a DOM Snippet Generated From WAVE Tool
  • Screenshots of Accessibility Pattern in Use
  • Credits/Authors

WAVE Tool Reference

Click to see WAVE Tool Reference

This content added 2026-04-27. Check for updated guidance at: https://wave.webaim.org/api/docs?format=html#lang

WAVE Category

Features

WAVE Error

Language

What It Means

The language of the document or a page element is identified.

Why It Matters

Identifying the language of the page or portion of page (if different from the page itself) allows screen readers to read the content appropriately.

What To Do

Ensure the language is properly identified for the page (e.g., <html lang="en">). If content within the page is in a language different than the page's language, identify it using a valid lang attribute value (e.g., <p lang="fr">).

The Algorithm... in English

A document or an element has a valid lang attribute value.

Standards and Guidelines

Example of a DOM Snippet Generated From WAVE Tool

[HTML snippet showing the code structure that WAVE detected]

Screenshots of Accessibility Pattern in Use

1. Descriptive Title for Screenshot Set 1

Description/text for image

[INSERT IMAGE HERE]

Credits/Authors

  • @MissBrandyLea
  • [INCLUDE Contributor 2]
  • [INCLUDE Contributor N]