The document needs a primary language

PDF/UA check DOC_LANG · Document level · severity High · PDF/UA 8.4.4 Natural language

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Why it matters#

Screen readers use the language setting to select the correct pronunciation rules. Without it, a French document might be read with English pronunciation, making it incomprehensible to listeners.

What you will see#

No default language is declared for the document, so assistive technology has to guess how to pronounce the text.

How to fix#

Add a non-empty /Lang entry to the document catalog dictionary with the primary language code (e.g. 'en-US'). In Acrobat: File > Properties > Advanced > Language.

Step-by-step guide#

1. Open File > Properties > Advanced > Reading Options > Language in Acrobat Pro and select the document's language; this writes the /Lang entry in the document catalog dictionary.
2. If the language is not in the dropdown, type a valid language tag directly into the field (e.g. en-US, fr, he, pt-BR). The value must be non-empty and must resolve to a specific language (8.4.4).
3. Alternatively, run Acrobat's accessibility check and use the checker's built-in repair: right-click the failed 'Primary language' item in the Accessibility Checker panel and choose Fix, then pick the language in the dialog.
4. For passages in a different language than the document default, set Language on the enclosing structure element (Accessibility tags panel > tag Properties > Language) - the catalog /Lang declares only the document-wide default; per 8.4.4 Note 2 it does not imply a primary or dominant language.
5. Fix at the source where possible (Word: Review > Language > Set Proofing Language) so re-exported PDFs keep the correct language.

Verify: Re-run the EQChecker scan; DOC_LANG passes when the catalog contains a non-empty /Lang entry. Acrobat's accessibility check 'Primary language' rule should also pass.

Note: An empty /Lang string fails the check. PDF/UA-2 8.4.4 requires the default natural language for content and text strings to be specified via a non-empty Lang entry in the document catalog dictionary; mixed-language content needs element-level Lang overrides, which this rule does not test.

Fixing it in your authoring tool#

WCAG success criteria#

3.1.1 Language of Page — Level A#

The default human language of the page must be set programmatically ().

Understanding 3.1.1

Standards#

This check contributes to the following standards:

PDF/UA WCAG A EN 301 549

References#

• W3C — PDF Techniques for WCAG 2.1