Accessibility rule: Letter spacing does not meet minimum requirement, explained

Modified on: Fri, 15 May, 2026 at 3:17 PM

Summary

Letter spacing accessibility ensures that text can be adjusted without breaking content or functionality. It matters because proper spacing improves readability for users with visual and cognitive disabilities.

Overview

Making sure that written content has proper letter spacing improves the readability of the text and helps users consume information efficiently. Users should therefore be able to adjust letter spacing on the page without any loss of content or functionality.

What this means

Who is impacted by this

If there is not enough space between letters, people with low vision, dyslexia, or other types of learning and cognitive disabilities may find the text hard to read.

How this is evaluated (or how it works)

The !important rule in CSS is used to add more importance to a property or a value. In fact, when the !important rule has been set for letter spacing, it will override any other styling rule. Therefore Siteimprove checks that adjusting letter spacing is not prevented by !important unless it is specifically set to be at least 0.12 times the font size. You can read more about this rule in the technical documentation.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: Using the !important rule has no impact on accessibility.

Explanation: The !important rule can override user-defined styles, including accessibility adjustments.

Clarification: Letter spacing must still meet accessibility thresholds even when !important is used.

What this article does not cover

If the CSS !important flag is used, letter spacing should be set to an accessible ratio of at least 0.12 times the font size.

Additional information

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