WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: SC 3.1.2 lang exception: proper names

for

From: John Foliot
Date: May 3, 2019 1:24PM


Hi All,

I think, in the end, this comes down to a matter of subjective
determination.

For example, Wolfgang's name may or may not be pronounced with an emphasis
on the "W" sound, but perhaps a more "V" sound (Volfgang), that may or may
not matter in some contexts, but in others may have a significant impact.
(For example, in a literary context).

In other circumstances, some "names" may be more problematic than others:
for example, my name in French is Jean (J E A N), which *should* be
pronounced as (something approximating) "jzawn" (with a very soft N), and /
but certainly not "Geen". In the context of an email, no harm, no foul; but
in other contexts it may make a significant difference.

The exception in WCAG states: *Proper names need no lang-attribution, if
the pronunciation between habitual and synthesized listening only differs
in nuances of accentuation or intonation ,* and I've offered 2 different
scenarios where the first (Wolfgang) likely meets this exception, but the
French variant of my name (Jean) would likely require the lang attribute to
ensure proper pronunciation.

Finally, the exception is offering times when adding the lang attribute is
*optional*, but that does not mean that you cannot do so. So (again)
depending on the context, it remains a subjective call on the content
author: if you feel it is correct to do so, do so.

HTH

JF

On Fri, May 3, 2019 at 2:07 PM < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> No. I am thinking of situations where the Web developer does not have
> background information about the name Perhaps they can do a Web search to
> determine the relevant nation and language.
>
>