Fixes by subject · 32 techniques
How to Fix Language and Readability
Setting the page language takes one attribute. Everything else here is about being understood the first time.
The page language attribute is one of the cheapest fixes in accessibility, and it is the least common of the failures scanners routinely count. That is rare good news. It still matters when it is missing, because a screen reader then reads your English page in whatever voice somebody has set as their default, and the result is unintelligible rather than merely awkward. Past that, the techniques here cover marking language changes inside a page, expanding abbreviations, defining unusual words, giving pronunciations, and writing plainly, which is the main accessibility intervention for people with cognitive disabilities. A few link-wording techniques sit here too, because how a link reads is a language problem as much as a navigation one.
All 32 techniques
They run in technique order, and each one carries a tag. Sufficient techniques satisfy a rule. Advisory ones help without being required. Failures document a specific way of getting it wrong. None of them is mandatory, because W3C publishes techniques as documented ways of meeting a criterion rather than the only ways, so your own approach conforms as long as it meets the criterion.
- H57Sufficient3.1.1Declare the page language on the html element
- H30Sufficient1.1.1, 2.4.4, 2.4.9Write link text that says where the link goes
- H28Advisory3.1.4Explain abbreviations with the abbr element
- H34Sufficient1.3.2Keep mixed-direction text reading in the right order
- H40Sufficient3.1.3Mark up term-and-definition pairs as description lists
- H54Sufficient3.1.3Mark the defining instance of a term with dfn
- H56Sufficient1.3.2Fix nested right-to-left text with the dir attribute
- H58Sufficient3.1.2Mark language changes with a lang attribute
- H62Sufficient3.1.6Add ruby annotations to show pronunciation
- SVR5Advisory3.1.1Send the content language in the HTTP header
- F84Failure2.4.9Stop writing "click here" and "read more" links
- F96Failure2.5.3Do not let accessible names contradict visible labels
- G53Sufficient2.4.4Let the sentence around a link explain it
- G55Sufficient3.1.3, 3.1.4Link unusual words to their definitions
- G62Sufficient3.1.3, 3.1.4, 3.1.6Provide a glossary for specialized terms
- G70Sufficient3.1.3, 3.1.4Offer a dictionary search for specialized content
- G79Sufficient3.1.5Offer a spoken version of the text
- G86Sufficient3.1.5Add a plain-language summary of complex content
- G91Sufficient2.4.4, 2.4.9Write link text that states its purpose
- G97Sufficient3.1.4Expand each abbreviation at its first use
- G101Sufficient3.1.3Define words used in an unusual or restricted way
- G102Sufficient3.1.4Explain every abbreviation where it first appears
- G103Sufficient3.1.5Add illustrations that help explain complex content
- G112Sufficient3.1.3Define specialized terms inline where they appear
- G120Sufficient3.1.6Give the pronunciation right after ambiguous words
- G121Sufficient3.1.6Link ambiguous words to their pronunciations
- G153Sufficient3.1.5Make dense text easier to read
- G160Sufficient3.1.5Offer sign language versions of essential content
- G163Sufficient3.1.6Use standard diacritics readers can turn off
- PDF8Sufficient3.1.4Provide expansions for abbreviations in PDFs
- PDF16Sufficient3.1.1Set the document language in every PDF
- PDF19Sufficient3.1.1, 3.1.2Mark language changes inside PDF documents
More on Language and readability
The other 13 subjects
Knowing the technique is not the same as knowing you need it.
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