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WCAG A/AA requirement Priority: Serious

The page does not say which language it is in

The page does not declare its language, so assistive technology has to guess how to pronounce the text.

This text was translated automatically and has not been reviewed by a native speaker yet.

Why it matters to your customers

A screen reader may read Polish or German text with English pronunciation, making product descriptions hard to follow. Automatic translation and some browser features also work less well.

Who is affected

  • blind customers
  • screen reader users
  • people who use read-aloud or translation tools

How to fix it

Add a lang attribute to the <html> element with the page's main language, for example <html lang="de">. On multilingual sites set it per language version. Use lang on smaller parts that are in another language.

On Shopify

Shopify themes usually set the language from the store's locale in the main layout file. If it is missing, add the lang attribute to the <html> tag in the theme's layout Liquid file.

On Shoptet (CZ)

The template normally sets the language. If it is missing, report it to Shoptet or a partner, since the base layout is part of the template.

On PrestaShop

The theme's main layout template normally sets lang from the shop language. If it is missing, add it to the <html> tag in the theme's layout .tpl file.

On WooCommerce

WordPress normally prints the language through the theme's header template. If it is missing, the theme's header file likely does not call the standard language attributes function; fix it in a child theme.

Standards

Standards
StandardClause
WCAG 2.2 3.1.1 (A) Language of Page
WCAG 2.1 3.1.1 (A) Language of Page
WCAG 2.0 3.1.1 (A) Language of Page
EN 301 549 4.1.1 9.3.1.1
EN 301 549 3.2.1 9.3.1.1
Section 508 2017 E205.4
ДСТУ EN 301 549 2022 9.3.1.1

Automated check: axe-core rule html-has-lang. dequeuniversity.com, github.com, www.w3.org

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