Document accessibility - Language tags

Language

Screen readers read text in different languages. Every word in your document has an assigned language. Whenever there is text in another language, identify the language of the text appropriately. This ensures that assistive technologies can render the content accurately and read the content according to the pronunciation rules for that language.

Language considerations

It can be very distracting and confusing when a screen reader reads non-English words in English.

You do not need to change the language for words incorporated into English (for example, rendezvous).

How to change language

1. Highlight the text or section that is in a language other than English.
2. At the bottom left of the Word window, click on the language (beside the page and word count). Alternatively, select the ‘Review tab’, ‘Language’, and ‘Set Proofing Language.’
3. Select the desired language.

Resources

• WCAG Language Guidelines – Accessibility guidelines for when to apply languages.