Success Criterion 1.4.12
Conformance level AA

Letter Spacing Set in Pixels That Ignores User Overrides

1.4.12 — Text Spacing

Scenario

Setting

A video-conferencing app's meeting controls

What’s wrong

CSS letter-spacing defined in px on components that then ignore relative overrides *and* clip.

Example

* { line-height: 1 !important; letter-spacing: 0 !important; }

Why it matters

People with dyslexia or low vision who apply extra text spacing to read.

How to test

Apply the text-spacing override where letter-spacing is defined in fixed px on a component: if it ignores the relative override and also clips, it fails.

How to fix

With user text-spacing overrides applied (line height 1.5, paragraph 2x, letter 0.12em, word 0.16em), all content and controls must remain visible and usable. /* No !important overrides — let user style sheets adjust spacing */ !important locks out user stylesheets that increase line/letter/word spacing for readability.

Outcome

On a video-conferencing app's meeting controls, this barrier is gone for people with dyslexia or low vision who apply extra text spacing to read — they no longer have to work around this.

Who is affected