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seriousWCAG 1.4.12 · AA

Inline text spacing must be adjustable with custom stylesheets

avoid-inline-spacing

Ensure that text spacing set through style attributes can be adjusted with custom stylesheets

The criterion behind it

1.4.12 Text Spacing

The page must still work when the reader increases line height and letter spacing.

Level AA · EN 301 549 § 9.1.4.12

Why this check exists

People with dyslexia routinely override spacing. If your layout clips, the page becomes unreadable rather than easier.

What usually triggers it

  • failsFixed-height buttons and cards that clip on the second line.

How to fix it

  • doAvoid fixed heights on anything containing text.
  • doTest with line-height 1.5, letter-spacing 0.12em, word-spacing 0.16em, paragraph spacing 2em.

How it is reported

A11ySignal reports this at serious impact. Every failing element comes with its CSS selector and the markup that failed, so you can go straight to the line rather than hunting for it. Deque publishes the engine-level detail:

https://dequeuniversity.com/rules/axe/4.13/avoid-inline-spacing ↗

Check implemented by axe-core 4.13.0, © Deque Systems, MPL-2.0.