Blocks of text readable (minimum)

foundational

Normative Text

The default/authored presentation of blocks of text meets the corresponding values for the content’s language, or, if the language is not listed in the table, of the language listed with the most similar orthography.

Orthography refers to how a language is represented in text. This requirement establishes minimal readability criteria for an initial set of orthographies.

The metrics in the following table are still to be determined; the current content is an example.

Characteristic	Arabic	Chinese	English	Hindi	Russian
Inline margin
Block margin			≥0.5em around paragraphs
Line length			30-100 characters
Line height			1.0 - paragraph separation height

Blocks of text readable (minimum) and Text style readable (minimum) are based on common usage, and their adjustable and enhanced counterparts are based on readability research. We need more readability research in these languages.

Tests

This section is non-normative.

Procedure

For each block of text:

Check that the attributes of the block of text are within the attributes in the table for the closest language.

Expected results

#1 is true.

Tests

This content needs to be written.

Key Terms

accessibility support set: group of user agents and assistive technologies you test with

The AGWG is considering defining a default set of user agents and assistive technologies that they use when validating guidelines.
Accessibility support sets may vary based on language, region, or situation.
If you are not using the default accessibility set, the conformance report should indicate what set is being used.
accessibility supported: available and working in the user agents and assistive technology in the accessibility support set

The working group intended to include a default accessibility support set. See Default accessibility support set #277.
block of text: more than one sentence of text
content: information, sensory experience and interactions conveyed
human language: language that is spoken, written, or signed (through visual or tactile means) to communicate with humans

See also sign language.
programmatically determinable: meaning of the content and all its important attributes can be determined by software functionality that is accessibility supported
sign language: a language using combinations of movements of the hands and arms, facial expressions, or body positions to convey meaning
text: sequence of characters that can be programmatically determined, where the sequence is expressing something in human language