This translation has not been editorially reviewed yet. The German version is authoritative. Deutsche Fassung

Accessibility

Why must line spacing and letter spacing be adjustable on websites?

Line and letter spacing must be adjustable, because people with reading difficulties or visual impairments can often only read text fluently with wider spacing. They use browser settings or assistive tools for this. Your website must be able to handle this adjustment: no text may be cut off in the process, and no code may lock the spacing in as unchangeable.

Wider spacing makes text readable

For people with dyslexia, tightly set lines blur into one another — more space between lines and letters turns a grey wall of text back into readable sentences. The standard defines specific adjustment values that a website must survive unscathed: line height at one and a half times the font size, plus increased spacing between letters, words, and paragraphs. Visitors set these values themselves — your website doesn't need to provide them, only allow them. Problems arise in two places: text boxes with a fixed, hard-coded height cut off text that has grown, and code that pins spacing down with priority declarations renders the adjustment ineffective from the start.

How our measurement engine checks text spacing

The check works on two tracks. First, the measurement engine actually runs the stress test: it applies the standard's spacing values live to your page and measures whether any text gets cut off — every clipped spot is a documented finding. Second, it scans your page's style rules for spacing declarations with priority markers that block adjustment — such pinning-down is objectively demonstrable and counts as a violation. If neither shows up, the criterion is deliberately still never treated as automatically passed: nothing standing out in the test is not yet proof for every piece of text. The final judgment, at the Gold Standard level, is made by a human.

Examples

Text breaks at greater intervals

Not met

.teaser { height: 3.6em; overflow: hidden; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: 0; }

Passes

.teaser { min-height: 3.6em; line-height: 1.5; }

Visitors may set line spacing 1,5, heel spacing 2, letter spacing 0,12 and word spacing 0,16; Nothing can be cut off.

Ask your agency to remove spacing declarations with priority markers — "!important" in the code — from the style rules.
Let text boxes grow in height instead of giving them fixed pixel heights.
Test your most important pages with a browser extension for text spacing — visibly cut-off text is a finding.
Pay particular attention to tile and card layouts with short text snippets — that's where growing text gets clipped most often.
Plan generous base spacing from the start: content that's set with room to breathe almost always survives the widening.

Deutsche Fassung dieser Seite

FAQ

What text spacing must a website be able to handle?

The adjustment values set out in the WCAG standard: line height at one and a half times the font size, letter spacing at 0.12 times, word spacing at 0.16 times the font size, and paragraph spacing at double. Visitors set these values themselves — the website must allow them and must not lose any content in the process.

Who benefits from larger line and letter spacing?

Above all, people with dyslexia, for whom tightly set lines blur together, as well as people with visual impairments. Wider spacing separates lines and words more clearly and is what makes longer texts readable fluently in the first place. The adjustment happens on the visitor's side — well-built websites don't notice it at all.

How does the audit service test the adjustability of spacing?

The measurement engine applies the standard's spacing values live to the page and measures whether any text gets cut off. It also scans the style rules for pinned-down spacing that blocks adjustment — that's a demonstrable violation. An unremarkable test run is deliberately never treated as automatic proof; a human confirms the judgment.