The page does not declare its language

Automated check html-has-lang, run with axe-core

WCAG
3.1.1 Language of Page (Level A)
Severity
Serious: completable, but painful
Typical effort
Quick win, under 1 hour
Category
Page structure

Who this affects

Screen reader users, especially in multilingual countries.

Why it matters

Without a language declaration the screen reader guesses, often reading Dutch or German content with an English voice, which is close to unintelligible. A one-line fix and a very visible failure in an audit.

How to fix it

Set <html lang="nl"> (or the correct code) on every page, including error pages.

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Related checks: Page structure

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