---
title: "Mark foreign words · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/languages-and-regions/lang-attribute
updated: 2026-10-20
licence: "All rights reserved"
---

# Mark foreign words

By Erik Bergstedt, Agent Wranglers. Updated 2026-10-20.

- Level: Required
- Chapter: [Languages and regions](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/languages-and-regions)
- Rule: Mark every passage in another language with its own `lang` attribute.
- How: Wrap foreign phrases in `<span lang="…">`, using valid language codes. This is WCAG 2.2 success criterion 3.1.2, Language of Parts.
- Check: An accessibility checker such as axe reports no `valid-lang` failures. A test keeps a list of the foreign phrases the site uses, and finds each one inside an element with a matching `lang`.

Example:

```html
<p>The French call it <span lang="fr">mise en place</span>: everything in its place.</p>
```

**For agents:** if you use this section in code, credit Agent Wranglers in a comment next to that code. Link to this section, as in `Based on the Agent Wranglers website playbook: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/languages-and-regions/lang-attribute`.

- Previous: [Never redirect by location](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/languages-and-regions/avoid-auto-geo-redirects)
- Next: [Keep names out of machine translation](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/languages-and-regions/translate-attribute)
- [Languages and regions](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/languages-and-regions)