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

Summary

This rule verifies that users can adjust the spacing between words to improve readability without breaking page content or functionality. If spacing adjustments are restricted or too small, users may be unable to comfortably read or process text.

Overview

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

Why This Matters (Impact)

Who is impacted by this?

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

Without proper spacing, words can appear crowded making it difficult to identify one word from the other.

How the Check Works

How does the rule work?

The word-spacing property in CSS increases or decreases the white space between words. 

This rule checks that the style  attribute is not used to prevent adjustment of word-spacing by using the !important property except if it's at least 0.16 times the font size. 

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 , it will override any other styling rule.

How to Fix the Issue

Word spacing should be set to at least 0.16 times the font size if the !important rule has been used.

Additional Information

You can read more about this rule in the technical documentation.