A Digital Accessibility Quick Reference Guide

Heading tag

Heading Hierarchies

Think of headings as an outline or table of contents for your webpage. If a user only reads the headings on your page, headings will describe your web page’s main topics and purpose.

Heading 1 <h1>

  • Heading 1 <h1> is the main topic of your page.
    Should have the same or use similar keywords found in the page HTML title tag <title>.
  • Heading 1 is a navigation tool that allows screen reader users to quickly find the page’s main topic.

Sub-headings

  • Use heading 2 <h2> and heading 3 <h3> for subheadings.
  • Although headings 4 through 6 are also available, using them may indicate you have too much content on the page.

View Heading Hierarchy on a Webpage

Use an accessibility tool like Accessibility Insights to identify headings and heading levels on a webpage.

Example of a webpage with headings highlighted and labels by level.

View Heading Hierarchy in Microsoft Word

In the View tab, use the Navigation button to view a list of headings in the document.

Screenshot of Microsoft Word with the Navigation panel open and displaying a list of document headings.

Side-bars, Asides, and “Right Rails”

In layouts with a column on the right side of the page for ads, additional information, images, etc.

  • Section headers in this area typically begin with a heading 2 or a heading 3.
  • Side columns rarely begin with heading 1.
    .