Is my website's language set correctly?

Updated 2026-10-17

Short answer: the lang attribute on your page tells screen readers how to pronounce it, tells browsers whether to offer translation, and helps search engines. Missing or wrong, it causes odd pronunciation and unwanted translate prompts.

How to check it yourself

  1. View your page's source and look at the first tag: <html lang="...">.
  2. It should match the page's language, for example en-AU or en.
  3. Set it in your theme or site template so every page gets it.

Why it matters

The lang attribute tells browsers and screen readers what language the page is in. Screen readers use it to pick the right pronunciation, browsers use it to offer translation, and search engines use it to show the page to the right audience. A missing or wrong value makes all three guess.

Common causes

  • The theme's <html> tag has no lang attribute.
  • It's set to the wrong language, often en-US on a site written for another region or language.
  • The site language setting in the CMS was never changed from the default.
  • A multilingual site uses the same lang value on every language version.

What Preventionlabs shows

Every report's page basics check confirms the page language is set, alongside link previews, structured data, the favicon and other upkeep checks.

Price

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