lang attribute on inline content
Mark passages, phrases, and inline elements that differ from the document language with a lang attribute. WCAG 3.1.2 requires it so assistive tech can switch pronunciation.
What it is
lang is a global HTML attribute that names the natural language of the element’s content. The root document language belongs on <html lang="…"> (covered by the html lang attribute spec page). This page is about the other lang declarations — the ones you add to spans, paragraphs, quotes, and any inline content whose language differs from the page default.
<p>The German verb <span lang="de">verschlimmbessern</span> means to make
something worse by trying to improve it.</p>Why it matters
WCAG 2.4.2 Level A requires a page-level language. WCAG 3.1.2 Level AA requires per-part language declarations for any passage or phrase whose language differs from the surrounding text. The benefits are concrete:
- Screen readers switch voice and pronunciation rules. VoiceOver reads a French sentence with a French voice when it sees
lang="fr"; without it, it mangles the words with the document-language voice. - Browsers apply the correct spellcheck dictionary, font fallback, hyphenation rules, and quotation marks.
- Search engines and translation tools know which spans to leave alone and which to translate.
- CSS can target language with the
:lang()pseudo-class — useful for typography and quotation marks.
How to implement
Use BCP 47 tags, the same tagging system used for hreflang. Language subtag first, optional script and region after.
<html lang="en-GB">
<body>
<blockquote lang="fr">
Je pense, donc je suis.
</blockquote>
<p>The motto <i lang="la">per aspera ad astra</i> is Latin.</p>
<p>The Japanese term <span lang="ja">改善</span>
(<span lang="ja-Latn">kaizen</span>) means continuous improvement.</p>
</body>
</html>Rules of thumb:
- Mark the smallest correct element. A
<span>around a foreign phrase is fine. - Mark scripts when relevant.
zh-Hansvszh-Hantmatters for font selection.ja-Latndistinguishes romanised Japanese from kanji. - Do not mark proper names that are widely used in the page language (“Paris” in an English text does not need
lang="fr"). - Quotes and citations are good candidates —
<blockquote lang="…">and<q lang="…">change quotation-mark glyphs via the browser.
Common mistakes
- Tagging every loanword. “Café” and “ad hoc” in English text are English now.
- Using invalid codes like
lang="english"orlang="UK". Useenoren-GB. - Setting
lang=""(empty) on an element to “unset” it — that is only valid on<html>when the language is genuinely unknown. - Forgetting the script subtag for CJK content, which causes wrong font rendering.