This is practical accessibility guidance for first-pass triage. It is not legal advice, a formal audit, WCAG certification, or a conformance guarantee.
What this means
The html element does not declare the page language.
Why it matters
Assistive technology uses the language value to choose pronunciation rules.
How to fix it
- Add a lang attribute to the html element.
- Use a suitable value such as en-CA for English Canadian pages or fr-CA for French Canadian pages.
- Set language changes inside the page when substantial content uses another language.
What automated checks can detect
A checker can detect whether the html element has a non-empty lang attribute.
What still needs manual review
Review multilingual content manually; a single page-level value may not cover every phrase or component.
Automation cannot reliably verify that the chosen language tag matches all page content.
Canadian context
Use Canadian language tags where appropriate. Do not add French or Quebec-specific content unless the product scope supports it.