Language of Page
The default human language of each web page must be programmatically determinable through the `lang` attribute on the `<html>` element.
What it requires
WCAG 2.0 SC 3.1.1 lets screen readers, translation tools, and search engines understand the page's language. The fix is one attribute: `<html lang="en">` (or the appropriate language code). Without it, screen readers default to the user's system language, which may pronounce the content with the wrong phonetic rules.
For multilingual stores, every page must declare its language; sections of mixed-language content can use `lang` on a sub-element to indicate language switches.
Common Shopify failure
Theme that ships with `<html>` (no `lang` attribute) by default. Custom storefront where the merchant's language is set in Shopify admin but the Liquid layout never reads `request.locale`.
How to fix it
AccessComply rewrites the theme's layout/theme.liquid `<html>` tag to render `<html lang="{{ request.locale.iso_code }}">` so the language matches the storefront's configured locale.
Primary source: W3C — WCAG 2.0 Understanding 3.1.1