• Success Criterion 3.1.2
  • Conformance level AA

Mixed-Language Legal or Product Text Left Entirely Unmarked

3.1.2 — Language of Parts

Scenario

Setting

A weather app's forecast screen

What’s wrong

Mixed-language product/legal content (e.g., French terms inside English page) unmarked.

Example 

<p class="disclaimer">
  Forecast data provided under license. Void where prohibited;
  see conditions d'utilisation for regional restrictions.
</p>

Why it matters

The French legal phrase buried in the disclaimer gets read as English gibberish, so a user checking data-usage terms can't even tell a second language is present.

How to test

Find mixed-language content (e.g., French legal terms inside an English page): check for lang markup on the foreign-language portion.

How to fix

Mark short mixed-language legal terms individually rather than leaving the whole disclaimer in one declared language.

<p class="disclaimer">
  Forecast data provided under license. Void where prohibited;
  see <span lang="fr">conditions d'utilisation</span> for regional restrictions.
</p>

Outcome

A user reading the disclaimer hears the French term rendered correctly and understands it's a defined legal phrase.

Who is affected

Screen reader users reviewing terms before relying on forecast data need the language switch flagged so pronunciation, and their attention, shifts correctly.

Learn more

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