- Success Criterion 3.1.2
- Conformance level AA
Bilingual Layout Where One Column’s Language Goes Unmarked
3.1.2 — Language of Parts
Scenario
Setting
A customer-support live-chat widget
What’s wrong
Bilingual side-by-side layouts where one column is unmarked.
Example
Here's what happens on a customer-support live-chat widget: bilingual side-by-side layouts where one column is unmarked.
Why it matters
Screen-reader users hearing mixed-language content with the wrong voice rules. On a customer-support live-chat widget, this barrier means they can't tell what language they're reading.
How to test
Inspect a bilingual side-by-side layout: check whether both columns have correct lang attributes, or whether one column is left unmarked.
How to fix
The passage in another language must carry its own correct lang attribute.
Outcome
Corrected, a customer-support live-chat widget now lets a visitor understand which language they're reading.
Who is affected
Screen-reader users hearing mixed-language content with the wrong voice rules.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- No Way to Programmatically Tell Which Language a Passage Uses
- Foreign-Language Quote or Phrase With No Language Attribute
- Language Switcher Link With No Language Tag of Its Own
- Mixed-Language Legal or Product Text Left Entirely Unmarked
- Language Attribute Copy-Pasted Onto the Wrong Piece of Text
- User-Generated Content in Another Language Never Tagged