Success Criterion 3.1.2
Conformance level AA

Language Attribute Copy-Pasted Onto the Wrong Piece of Text

3.1.2 — Language of Parts

Scenario

Setting

A survey tool's question builder

What’s wrong

Wrong part-level lang values inherited from copy-paste.

Example

<div class="question" lang="fr">
  <label>What is your favorite color?</label>
  <input type="text">
</div>

Why it matters

This English question was pasted from a French template and kept lang="fr", so a screen reader applies French pronunciation to plain English text, confusing respondents mid-survey.

How to test

Inspect a lang attribute that appears to be copy-pasted or inherited incorrectly at the part level: verify it matches the actual language of that specific text.

How to fix

Audit lang attributes whenever question content is duplicated or copy-pasted between templates in different languages.

<div class="question" lang="en">
  <label>What is your favorite color?</label>
  <input type="text">
</div>

Outcome

A respondent hears the question read in natural English and answers without hesitation.

Who is affected

Screen reader users answering the survey hear their own language mispronounced because of a leftover attribute unrelated to the actual text.

Learn more

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