Button Element Capitalisation Check

Button labels on Android should use consistent, sentence-style capitalization so text-to-speech engines pronounce them correctly.

WCAG Reference

Maps to: WCAG 3.1.6 Pronunciation | Applies to: WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1, WCAG 2.2 Introduced in: WCAG 2.0 | Level: AAA | Read the official specification →

What this rule checks

The scanner reviews button labels — including clickable containers acting as buttons — for irregular capitalization: labels that begin with a lowercase letter, mid-word capitalization (e.g., "SubMit", "LogIn"), or an unnecessary capital after a hyphen in hyphenated labels (e.g., "Sign-In" instead of "Sign-in").

Why it matters

Screen readers use capitalization as a pronunciation cue. Irregular casing — all-caps fragments, camel case, or mixed-case words — can cause text-to-speech engines to spell out letters, split words unnaturally, or mispronounce the label, making the button's purpose harder to understand when heard rather than read.

Common failure patterns

• marketing-driven all-caps or camel-case strings ("BUY NOW", "LogIn") baked into the source text
• hyphenated labels with inconsistent casing ("Sign-In", "Check-Out")

Remediation guidance

• use sentence case (e.g., "Save changes") in the underlying string instead of all caps or inconsistent capitalization
• if a stylized all-caps look is desired visually, apply it through styling (android:textAllCaps) rather than in the source string, so the underlying accessible text remains normally cased
• keep hyphenated labels in sentence case too — "Sign-in", not "Sign-In"

Related docs

• Android Rule Repository
• Accessibility Issue Remediation Guide