The purpose of this success criterion is to help persons who are blind, have low vision and persons with reading disabilities to make sense of content in scenarios where the meaning depends on the pronunciation.
Table of Contents
Official Requirements
Success Criterion 3.1.6 Pronunciation (Level AAA): A mechanism is available for identifying specific pronunciation of words where meaning of the words, in context, is ambiguous without knowing the pronunciation.
Why is it required?
Grasping the correct pronunciation of words in context plays a crucial part in the topic’s comprehension that is being presented. This holds true especially when the meaning is decided by the way the word is being pronounced. Every person, including those who are blind, have low vision and people with reading disabilities find it difficult to clearly understand the content if words are pronounced incorrectly.
How do we fix it?
- Provide a technique for correct pronunciation of words whenever understanding of a word depends on its pronunciation
- Provide the pronunciation of a word immediately after it is mentioned. For instance: Verb vs noun – desert (dɪˈzəːt) or desert (ˈdɛzət)
- Audio pronunciation links must be provided to the words where pronunciation cannot be deduced based on the context
- Include pronunciation details in a glossary
