Users must be notified of the language of a link’s target content before activation. This advance notice prevents confusion, improves the reading experience, and facilitates navigation, particularly for those using assistive technologies.

Objectives

• Help readers and reading systems, such as text-to-speech tools, anticipate language changes during ebook navigation.
• Prevent accidental navigation to content in an unfamiliar language by signaling it in advance.

Implementation

• Include the target language directly in the link text, written in that target language, to signal the change.
• Signal the target language using an appropriate icon or visual indicator with descriptive alternative text.
• Explicitly mention the target language within the link text or its immediate context.

Control

• Identify links where the destination content or document is in a different language from the current section.
• Verify that for each of these links, the target language is clearly indicated through the link text, a visual indicator, or explicit text in the surrounding context.