Skip to content
Learn Measure Blog Case studies About
On this page
  • How this Lighthouse audit fails
  • How to fix orphaned definition list items
  • Resources

Definition list items are not wrapped in <dl> elements

May 2, 2019 — Updated Sep 19, 2019
Appears in: Accessibility audits
On this page
  • How this Lighthouse audit fails
  • How to fix orphaned definition list items
  • Resources

Definition list items (<dt> and <dd>) must be wrapped in a parent <dl> element to ensure that screen readers and other assistive technologies can properly announce them.

How this Lighthouse audit fails #

Lighthouse reports when definition list items are not wrapped in <dl> elements:

Lighthouse audit showing definition list items are not wrapped in <dl> elements
The Lighthouse Accessibility score is a weighted average of all the accessibility audits. See the Lighthouse accessibility scoring post for more information.

How to fix orphaned definition list items #

Wrap all definition list items in parent dl elements to ensure the list follows the proper hierarchy.

Definition list items require dl elements around the list, dt elements for each term, and dd elements for each definition. Each set of dt elements must be followed by one or more dd elements. For example:

<dl>
<dt>Trail shoe</dt>
<dd>Extra grip for uneven, natural survaces, such as forest trails.</dd>
<dt>Road shoe</dt>
<dd>Extra cushioning for hard surfaces, such as sidewalks and roads.</dd>
</dl>

Resources #

  • Source code for Definition list items are not wrapped in <dl> elements audit
  • <dt> and <dd> elements must be contained by a <dl> (Deque University)
Last updated: Sep 19, 2019 — Improve article
Return to all articles
Share
subscribe

Contribute

  • File a bug
  • View source

Related content

  • developer.chrome.com
  • Chrome updates
  • Web Fundamentals
  • Case studies
  • Podcasts
  • Shows

Connect

  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Google Developers
  • Chrome
  • Firebase
  • Google Cloud Platform
  • All products
  • Terms & Privacy
  • Community Guidelines

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies.