Page Titled

What it asks

The <title> element in the document head must describe what the page is about. Screen-reader users hear it the moment a page loads — it’s the first orientation cue they get. Sighted users see it in the browser tab, in their history, when they bookmark, and on the SERP. A title that fails this SC leaves all of these users guessing what they just landed on.

The title doesn’t have to be poetic. It has to be specific. “Home” fails. “Pricing — Acme CRM” passes.

How to meet it

• Write a title that names the page first and the site second: "Wheelchair-accessible hotels in Berlin — Disability World".
• Update the title client-side on SPA route changes. Next.js, React Router, and Vue Router all need explicit document.title updates or framework-specific helpers.
• Reflect form errors and search results in the title: "3 errors — Account settings" or "Search: chronic fatigue — 47 results".
• Keep the most distinctive information at the start. In a 30-character tab strip, “Disability World — How to apply for SSDI” hides the topic.
• For multi-step forms, include the step: "Step 2 of 4: Address — Apply for benefits".

Common failures

• Generic site-wide titles: every page reads "Acme Inc." because the template never overrides the default.
• Empty <title></title> — surprisingly common when CMS templates assume the editor always fills it in.
• Untitled SPA routes: the initial HTML has a generic title and the router never updates it on navigation.
• Title is purely the brand name with no page topic ("Acme" on the contact, pricing, and product pages alike).
• “Untitled Document” leaked from a WYSIWYG export.

Why it matters

For a screen-reader user, the page title is the equivalent of looking at the top of the browser window — it tells them whether they’re where they wanted to be. Without it, every page sounds the same on load. It’s also load-bearing for SEO and link previews, so fixing this SC tends to be an easy sell across product, marketing, and content teams.