Web Governance
HTML Page Title is Descriptive
Collection: 2.4.2 Page Titled
This document gives information about the related accessibility checks:
HTML page title is descriptive
Title describes the document.
The title of an HTML page should clearly describe the content or functionality of the page.
The page title is defined in the HTML code using the <title> element. This title usually appears as the name of the open browser tab. This should not be confused with the first <h1> heading on the page, which is typically displayed within the content.
Page titles are crucial for navigation and accessibility. For users with visual impairments who use screen readers, a clear title helps them quickly understand what each page is about. For those with cognitive disabilities, descriptive titles make it easier to find the correct page. Additionally, users with multiple tabs open in their browsers can easily identify and switch between pages based on their titles, which improves overall efficiency and gives a better user experience.
This check affects the following users who have:
Visual impairments: Who access the site contents with a screen reader or screen magnification software.
Cognitive impairments: Who benefit from clear instructions and descriptive page titles.
Michael, 45 years old, is the Director of Operations at a global tech company. He is an avid runner who participates in marathons and enjoys early morning jogs. He lives with his spouse and two teenage children, and he values family game nights.
“In my line of work, I have got a ton of browser tabs open at any given time. It is just part of managing all the different projects and tasks. The thing is, if those tabs do not have clear, descriptive names, it can become a real headache.
Last week I had a situation where an urgent server issue popped up, and I needed to quickly access a specific tab with system status updates. Because a lot of my tabs were named things like 'Untitled' or just had vague titles, I wasted minutes trying to figure out which one I needed. In a high-pressure moment like that, those minutes can make a big difference.”
This section gives some examples of the issue.
In this example, the user has multiple tabs open in their browser, each tab displays different websites. Many of these tabs have generic titles, such as “Untitled Page”, which makes it difficult to quickly locate the right tab. This issue arises because the titles of these webpages are not descriptive, resulting in confusion when the user tries to find a specific page.
Web Governance<title>Untitled</title>
In this example, the <title> element of the page contains the text "Business News". This is effective because it clearly informs users about the type of information available on that page.
<title>Business News</title>The Monsido platform highlights the first <title> element on the page that contains text. Your task is now to review whether the text of the title element accurately describes the content of the page. The highlighted HTML snippet can look something like:
<title>Business News</title>Ask yourself the following question:
Is the text within the <title> element descriptive of the page's content or functionality?
If the answer is yes, you can mark this issue as "reviewed”.
If the answer is no, you should update the page title to make it descriptive of the content. This may sometimes require a change in the HTML code, but in many cases, there will be a field in your CMS where you can edit the page title. Once you have revised the title to accurately reflect the content, you can mark the page as "reviewed".
For instructions, see the user guide article:
How to review an accessibility issue
See the “ACT rules” section below, which includes a link to a complete technical explanation of this check.
Related accessibility conformance testing rules:
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