Multi-Language Detection
What is Multi-Language Detection?
eConsent automatically detects the language of consent disclosures on your pages. When a consumer provides consent, the detected language is recorded on the certificate alongside the SHA-256 content hash, providing a documented record of which language the disclosure was presented in.
This is important for compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and for serving non-English-speaking consumer populations.
Supported Languages
eConsent automatically detects the following 10 languages:
| Language | Code |
|---|---|
| English | en |
| Spanish | es |
| French | fr |
| Portuguese | pt |
| German | de |
| Italian | it |
| Chinese (Simplified) | zh |
| Chinese (Traditional) | zh-TW |
| Korean | ko |
| Vietnamese | vi |
How Detection Works
Language detection uses two methods:
- HTML
langattribute — If your page or disclosure element has alangattribute set (e.g.,<html lang="es">), eConsent uses this as the primary indicator - Content analysis — If the
langattribute is absent or set to a generic value, eConsent analyzes the actual text content of the consent disclosure to determine the language
The lang attribute takes precedence when set correctly. Content analysis serves as a fallback.
How It Appears on Certificates
When you open a certificate in your dashboard, the detected language appears in the Attestation section:
- Language: The detected language name and code (e.g., “Spanish (es)”)
- This is stored alongside the disclosure text hash, linking the language to the exact version of the disclosure
If your site serves consent disclosures in multiple languages (e.g., English and Spanish), each certificate will reflect whichever language that specific consumer was presented with.
Why This Matters
When a consumer consents in a language other than English, several compliance questions arise:
- Was the disclosure in a language the consumer understands? Courts may invalidate consent if the consumer could not read the disclosure.
- Does the translated disclosure match the English original? Auditors need to verify translations are accurate.
- Which version was shown? Multi-language sites may serve different content based on locale.
The language detection record on each certificate helps answer all of these questions.
Best Practices
- Set the
langattribute on your HTML element or on the consent disclosure container for the most accurate detection - Register consent templates for each language version in your dashboard under Settings > Consent Templates so certificates show the matched template name
- Use consistent translations across your site to ensure the same SHA-256 hash is generated for each language version
No Configuration Required
Language detection is automatic. There is nothing to enable or configure. Every certificate includes the detected language as part of the attestation.
Learn More
- See the full Language Detection documentation for technical details
- Learn about Consent Versioning for tracking disclosure versions across languages
- Contact support@econsent.org for questions
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