Success Criterion 3.1.1
Conformance level A

Multilingual Site Serving Every Locale With the Same Lang Value

3.1.1 — Language of Page

Scenario

Setting

A government tax-filing portal

What’s wrong

Multi-lingual sites serving all locales from one template with hard-coded original language.

Example

<html>

Why it matters

Screen-reader users who need correct pronunciation, and tools that depend on language metadata.

How to test

Check multiple locale versions of a multi-lingual site: if all locales are served from one template with a hard-coded original-language lang value, it fails for translated versions.

How to fix

The <html> element must carry a valid lang attribute matching the page language, updated when the site language switches.

<html lang="en">

The lang attribute tells screen readers which pronunciation and language rules to apply to the whole page.

Outcome

On a government tax-filing portal, this barrier is gone for screen-reader users who need correct pronunciation — they get the same result as anyone else here.

Who is affected