{"id":270,"date":"2025-06-04T11:43:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T15:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\/?page_id=270"},"modified":"2025-06-04T11:43:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T15:43:09","slug":"using-headings-to-structure-content","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\/using-headings-to-structure-content\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Headings to Structure Content"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-umflint-templates umflint-template-default\"><div class=\"wp-block-umflint-jumbotron jumbotron jumbotron-fluid jumbotron-page mb-3\" style=\"background-color: rgb(255,255,255);\">\n    <div class=\"container\"><\/div>\n    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"jumbotron-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www-s3.umflint.edu\/wp\/uploads\/2022\/02\/AC.Cluster.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www-s3.umflint.edu\/wp\/uploads\/2022\/02\/AC.Cluster.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www-s3.umflint.edu\/wp\/uploads\/2022\/02\/AC.Cluster-300x234.jpg 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itemtype=\"https:\/\/www.schema.org\/SiteNavigationElement\" id=\"menu-item-514\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-514 nav-item\"><a title=\"Myths and Paths Forward\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\/rethinking-pdfs\/myths-paths-forward\/\" class=\"nav-link\">Myths and Paths Forward<\/a><\/li>\n\t<li itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/www.schema.org\/SiteNavigationElement\" id=\"menu-item-515\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-515 nav-item\"><a title=\"PDF Alternatives\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\/rethinking-pdfs\/alternatives\/\" class=\"nav-link\">PDF Alternatives<\/a><\/li>\n\t<li itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/www.schema.org\/SiteNavigationElement\" id=\"menu-item-516\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-516 nav-item\"><a title=\"Sharing Read-Only Files\" 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(SPG)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/nav>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-9\">\n\t\t\t\n<nav aria-label=\"breadcrumb\"><ol class=\"breadcrumb mb-3\"><li class=\"breadcrumb-item\"><a href=\"\/\">Home<\/a><\/li><li class=\"breadcrumb-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\">Accessibility<\/a><\/li><li class=\"breadcrumb-item active\" aria-current=\"page\">Using Headings to Structure Content<\/li><\/ol><\/nav>\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Using Headings to Structure Content in an Accessible Way<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>When creating web pages, PDFs, or Word documents, one simple but powerful tool can make a big difference in usability and accessibility: <strong>headings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Are Headings?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Headings organize your content into clearly defined sections, giving users a quick overview of the page\u2019s structure and helping them find the information they need more efficiently. Think of headings as the \u201coutline\u201d of your content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Are Headings Important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Headings improve both <strong>comprehension<\/strong> and <strong>navigation<\/strong> for all users:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For <strong>sighted users<\/strong>, headings create visual structure and help people quickly scan for the information they need.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For <strong>screen reader users<\/strong>, headings function like a table of contents. They can pull up a list of all headings on the page and skip directly to the section they&#8217;re interested in\u2014saving time and improving access.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>When used correctly, headings make content more inclusive and user-friendly for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Using Headings the Right Way<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Headings should follow a logical structure using tags from <strong>Heading 1 (H1) through Heading 6 (H6)<\/strong>, where:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>H1<\/strong> is the document title or web page title (used only once)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>H2<\/strong> introduces main topics<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>H3<\/strong> introduces subtopics under an H2, and so on<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s important to <strong>maintain this hierarchy<\/strong>\u2014don\u2019t skip heading levels just to make something look a certain way. Visual appearance can always be adjusted through styling without affecting the heading structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Example of Proper Heading Structure:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>H1<\/strong> \u2013 Page Title\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>H2<\/strong> \u2013 Main Topic<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>H2<\/strong> \u2013 Another Topic\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>H3<\/strong> \u2013 Subtopic of the above\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>H4<\/strong> \u2013 Further subtopic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>H2<\/strong> \u2013 Next Main Topic<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This structure helps everyone\u2014especially screen reader users\u2014understand how your content is organized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Need Help?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ve pulled together a few helpful resources to guide you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/WAI\/tutorials\/page-structure\/headings\/\">W3C Guide on Headings<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/docs\/answer\/116338?hl=en&amp;co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop\">Headings in Google Docs<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.com\/support\/wordpress-editor\/blocks\/heading-block\/\">Headings in WordPress<br><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Using headings properly is a small step that makes a <strong>big<\/strong> difference in accessibility. If you need help reviewing a document or webpage, feel free to reach out or stop by a drop-in session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks for helping make our content more inclusive!<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\/using-headings-to-structure-content\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-270","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":317,"href":"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/270\/revisions\/317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}