This translation has not been editorially reviewed yet. The German version is authoritative. Deutsche Fassung →
Accessibility
Why must a website declare its language?
A website must declare its language in the source code, so screen readers pronounce the text correctly. A blind visitor hears your page instead of reading it. If the language tag is missing, their program guesses — and may read German text using English pronunciation rules. "Kontakt aufnehmen" then turns into incomprehensible gibberish. WCAG criterion 3.1.1 therefore requires a valid language tag on every page.
What the language tag does for visitors
A screen reader converts on-screen text into spoken language. To do that, it needs to know which language it's dealing with: German, English, and French follow completely different pronunciation rules. The language tag sits as a short note in the page's source code, usually right at the start, and is invisible to sighted visitors. But it helps far beyond reading aloud. The browser offers the right translation when a foreign visitor opens the page. Hyphenation breaks words at the right points. And search engines assign the page to the right language region. So a single line in the source code decides whether your content reaches many people in a usable way.
How the audit service checks the language tag
Our measurement engine checks this criterion fully automatically, with the recognised axe-core testing tool. It loads your page in a real browser and checks two things: first, the language tag must be present on the page's root element at all. Second, it must contain a valid language code, such as "de" for German or "de-AT" for Austrian German — a typo like "deutsch" counts as a violation. To rule out random findings, axe-core runs twice with an 800-millisecond gap; only what both runs show counts. The report then clearly states the criterion: passed or violated, with evidence. An empty check counts as a failure with us, never as a free pass.
- Open your homepage's source code via right-click and "View page source", and look in the first few lines for the note lang="de".
- Ask your agency to set the language tag on the page's root element — it then automatically applies to every subpage.
- Check every language version individually: the English version of your website needs the code "en", the German one "de".
- Repeat the look at the source code after every change of website builder or software.
FAQ
What is a website's lang attribute?
The lang attribute is a short note in the source code that names the page's language, such as lang="de" for German. Visitors never see it. But screen readers, browser translation, hyphenation, and search engines read it and adjust their behaviour accordingly. It sits right at the start of the source code, directly on the page's root element, and applies to the entire page.
What happens if the language tag is missing on a website?
Without a language tag, a screen reader has to guess. If it's set to English, it reads German text using English pronunciation rules — the result is barely understandable for blind visitors. In addition, the browser doesn't offer foreign visitors a matching translation, and automatic hyphenation breaks words at the wrong points. WCAG criterion 3.1.1 treats the missing tag as a violation.
How do I check my website's language tag myself?
Open your homepage, right-click on an empty spot, and select "View page source". A note like lang="de" should appear in the first few lines. If it's missing, or a different code than your page's actual language appears there, pass the finding on to your agency — the fix is usually a single line.