WCAG 3.1.6 Pronunciation: How to Disambiguate Words for Screen Readers

What This Criterion Requires

WCAG 3.1.6 Pronunciation is a Level AAA success criterion that requires a mechanism to be available for identifying specific pronunciation of words where meaning is ambiguous without that information. The criterion targets homographs (words spelled identically but pronounced differently with different meanings), proper nouns whose pronunciation is not obvious from spelling, foreign-language terms embedded in another language, and technical jargon that screen readers commonly mispronounce. Acceptable mechanisms include inline pronunciation guides in parentheses, IPA notation, audio clips that play the word, ruby annotations (especially in Japanese and Chinese contexts), and emerging SSML or pronunciation-lexicon hints that screen readers and text-to-speech engines can interpret. Although Level AAA, the criterion is critical for any content that depends on phonetic disambiguation, including legal documents, medical instructions, language-learning material, and brand names that customers will say aloud.

Why It Matters

Screen readers and text-to-speech engines pronounce written words by applying language rules; when those rules are ambiguous, the listener may receive a misleading or unintelligible word. A blind user listening to a legal document containing the homograph "lead" cannot tell whether the topic is the metal or the act of leading without context, and a single mispronounced drug name in medical instructions can be dangerous. Users with cognitive or learning disabilities also benefit, because pronunciation cues reinforce word recognition and reduce the cognitive cost of decoding unfamiliar terms. For multilingual content, marking pronunciation makes it possible for the screen reader to switch voices and read foreign words correctly, which dramatically improves comprehension. Sites that publish in scripts where pronunciation is not encoded in the spelling, such as Chinese characters or unfamiliar proper nouns, depend on this criterion to remain usable for blind audiences.

Common Failures and How to Fix Them

<p>The bass dominated the recording.</p>

<p>The bass <span class="pronunciation">(/beɪs/, the low-frequency sound)</span> dominated the recording.</p>

<p>Our motto is Veni, vidi, vici.</p>

<p>
  Our motto is
  <span lang="la" title="WAY-nee, WEE-dee, WEE-kee">Veni, vidi, vici</span>.
</p>

<p>The conference will be held in 金沢.</p>

<p>
  The conference will be held in
  <ruby lang="ja">金沢<rp>(</rp><rt>Kanazawa</rt><rp>)</rp></ruby>.
</p>

How to Test

1. Read the page with a screen reader and listen for words that are mispronounced or ambiguous; note any homographs, proper nouns, or foreign-language terms that lack disambiguation.
2. For each ambiguous word identified, confirm that the page provides at least one mechanism: an inline pronunciation in parentheses, IPA notation, a title attribute, an audio clip, ruby annotations, or a glossary link.
3. Verify that foreign-language fragments use a lang attribute on the surrounding element so screen readers can switch to the appropriate voice and apply the right phonetic rules.
4. Check that pronunciation cues are programmatically associated with the word they describe (for example, inside the same element or referenced by aria-describedby) rather than only visually adjacent.

CMS-Specific Guidance

This criterion commonly causes issues on these platforms:

• Wordpress Accessibility Checklist
• Ghost Accessibility Checklist
• Drupal Accessibility Checklist
• Squarespace Accessibility Checklist

Further Reading

• Accessible Content Writing Guide
• Screen Reader Friendly Website Guide
• Wcag Explained Plain English

Related WCAG Criteria

• WCAG 3.1.2
• WCAG 3.1.1
• WCAG 3.1.3