Success Criteria

WCAG 2.4.2 Page Titled

Success Criterion 2.4.2 requires that web pages have titles that describe their topic or purpose. It's a Level A criterion under Guideline 2.4 (Navigable).

Why the page title carries this much weight

The <title> element is usually the first thing announced when a screen reader loads a page, and it's the label shown in a browser tab, a bookmark, and a browser history entry. A missing or generic title (<title></title>, or the same "My App" on every page) fails every one of those roles simultaneously — a user with several tabs open, or navigating by screen reader, has no way to distinguish one page from another.

"Present" isn't the same as "compliant"

A non-empty <title> technically satisfies a naive check, but the criterion's actual intent is that the title describes the specific page's topic or purpose. A site where every page's title is just the site name, or a bare "Page," has titles present but not meaningfully descriptive — that's still a practical failure of what this criterion exists to guarantee, even if an automated check flags only the fully-empty case with full confidence.

The single-page-app trap

Traditional server-rendered sites tend to get this right by default — each page's HTML just includes its own <title>. Client-side-routed single-page applications are the more common source of violations: navigating between views changes the URL and the visible content, but unless something explicitly updates document.title on each route change, the title silently stays frozen at whatever the initial page load set. See Missing or Generic Page Titles for the fix pattern and how to check your routing library actually handles this.

A good title, concretely

A useful convention: {page-specific topic} — {site name}, with the unique part first so it's the part visible when a browser tab or bookmark truncates long titles. "Edit Profile — My App" tells a user exactly where they are; "My App" repeated on every page tells them nothing beyond which site they're on.

Common questions

What is WCAG 2.4.2 Page Titled?

A Level A criterion requiring a descriptive title element on every page that conveys its topic or purpose.

Why does the page title matter?

Screen readers announce it first when a page loads, and users rely on it to tell tabs, bookmarks, and history entries apart.

What makes a good page title?

Unique and descriptive, usually leading with the specific page topic, e.g. 'Pricing — AllyProof' rather than a generic 'Home' on every page.