This translation has not been editorially reviewed yet. The German version is authoritative. Deutsche Fassung
Accessibility
Must my website work in both portrait and landscape orientation?
Yes: your website must be usable in both portrait and landscape orientation and must not force one. The reason is concrete — some people can't rotate their device, for example because the tablet is mounted in a fixed position on a wheelchair. A page that only works in landscape locks these visitors out completely.
Forced orientation locks visitors out
Most websites adapt to device orientation on their own. Problems arise when the design or code locks in one orientation: a pop-up saying "please rotate your device", a video area that's only operable in landscape, a booking form that gets cut off in portrait. For most users, that's an inconvenience — for people with a device mounted in a fixed position, it's a closed door. Also affected are users whose device rotation is locked for health reasons, such as dizziness. The rule allows a narrow exception: where an orientation is genuinely required — such as a piano-keyboard app — it may be fixed. For ordinary business websites, such reasons practically never apply.
How our measurement engine checks orientation
Our measurement engine renders your page in a real browser at several screen widths — from the narrow phone view to the wide desktop view — covering the typical portrait widths in the process: whatever overflows horizontally or gets cut off there flows into the Responsive check area as a finding. Whether a page actively locks the orientation beyond that, or prompts for rotation, often only becomes apparent on a real device and in the page's behaviour — that's judged at the Gold Standard level by a human who operates the page in both orientations. The report clearly separates what was measured from what is a human judgment.
Examples
Enforced landscape format
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width">
<script>screen.orientation.lock("landscape");</script>
<style>@media (orientation: portrait) { body { display: none } }</style><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<style>
.tabelle { overflow-x: auto; }
</style>A tablet on the wheelchair is fixedly mounted. The side adapts to the situation; Wide content gets its own scroll area.
- Open your website on a phone and rotate the device — every function must stay reachable in both orientations.
- Remove pop-ups like "please rotate your device" — they're the clearest sign of a forced orientation.
- Test forms and booking flows specifically in portrait — that's where content gets cut off most often.
- Ask your agency to confirm that no orientation lock is set in the code.
- Check embedded content such as videos and maps in both orientations — third-party components can bring their own locks.
