Text alternatives
Every page needs a title
- Rule:
document-title - Severity: Serious
- WCAG level A
Why it matters
The title is the first thing a screen reader announces and the label on every browser tab, bookmark and search result. Without it a page is identified by its URL.
How to fix it
- Give each page a unique <title> that names the page first and the site second.
- In a single-page app, update the title on every route change.
- Keep the useful part in the first few words — that is all a tab shows.
In markup
<head>
<title></title>
</head><head>
<title>Checkout — Nordwind Shop</title>
</head>The requirement behind it
This rule is one way of failing the following WCAG 2.2 success criteria. The W3C, which writes the standard, explains each of them:
- 2.4.2 Page Titled (opens in new tab) — WCAG level A
Further reading
Deque University on document-title (opens in new tab)
Deque maintains axe-core, the open-source engine our scanner runs. Their page documents the rule as the engine implements it.
Automated checks find failures a browser can prove. They cannot judge whether a caption is accurate, whether an alt text is useful, or whether a page can be operated end to end with a keyboard — those need a person.