How to set HTML lang attribute dynamically?

Question

How to set HTML 'lang' attribute dynamically in a web application?

I tried using jQuery as follows to insert the 'lang' attribute:

$(document).ready(function() {
     $("html").attr("lang", language); //'language' value is retrieved from a cookie
}); 

Using console/alert, 'lang' attribute looks to be set as expected. But if you see generated source (View Source), 'lang' isn't getting set at all.

Requirement is Screen Readers must be able to recognize the language dynamically. It would be great if there is any other solution to make Screen Readers recognize the language dynamically. Thanks everyone for the comments inline!

Answer 1

document.documentElement.setAttribute('lang', navigator.language);

or

document.documentElement.lang = navigator.language;

Answer 2

But if you see generated source (View Source), 'lang' isn't getting set at all.

View Source doesn't show you the generated source. It shows you the real source. If you want to change it, then you need to change it on the server before you deliver it to the browser. You can't modify it with client side JavaScript.

Your DOM changes will show up in the live DOM, which will be visible through Inspect Element.