Language Access Keys Criterion

Specify language of document as well as any changes in content.

• Every HTML page on a site should have a lang="language" attribute (and for XHTML pages an xml:lang="language" attribute) in the namespace declaration so screen readers, etc., know which language to use when reading the page.
• This also means if you switch languages at any point you should indicate using the correct attribute so the screen reader will be able to read the text properly.
• While not all user agents (including screen readers) recognise the language attribute, it will benefit users of those that do and will be in place when the others implement it in the future.
• The spider will check for any use of lang="xx" and xml:lang="xx".
• The manual check will see they are used properly and where needed.
• This criteria has a maximum of 1 point possible as it will not, for the most part, cause undue problems as current browsers and screen readers do not always recognise this attribute at all. Furthermore, most web pages are written in one language which will be recognised as the primary language of the user.
• Criterion weighting of one.