Pillar: Headings

Headings are the short descriptive text that identifies the content in the upcoming section. Built-in headings serve as a digital table of contents and allow the reader to identify the section they want to read and to quickly navigate to it. Using headings in descending order (e.g., Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.) benefits all users by making content easier to scan visually and enables assistive technologies like screen readers to interpret and navigate the page more efficiently.

Heading Best Practices

Keep headings short and descriptive.
Use the drop-down formatting menu to select built-in Heading Styles.
Avoid fake headings (simply bolding or changing font size--this is not a real heading that can be read by a screen reader)
Avoid skipping heading levels (Heading 1 to Heading 4, for instance)
Structure headings in order (Heading 1 as the Title, Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.).

Microsoft word with the horizontal style pane highlighted and the vertical style pane highlighted

Heading Examples

Good example of Headings:

Proper headings are applied to enable logical navigation throughout the document.

Sample Correct Headers Syllabus Document (download word document). Open the formatting bar in Word. Then highlight a heading. Do you see how the "Styles" Formatting Tool lights up? The "Styles" tool is the correct formatting tool to use for digital accessibility.

Poor Example of Headings:

Improper heading formatting is applied in this Word document Syllabus. The author did not use the built-in Style formatting for Headings; instead, the author simply increased the font size of the heading, "English 101 Course Syllabus" and bolded it. You can download the sample Syllabus document and open it in Word to explore.

Sample Incorrect Headers Syllabus Document (download word document) Open the formatting bar in Word. Then highlight a heading: do you see see how the improper use of the "bold" tool and "font size" tools are used, instead of the correct usage of the "Styles" tool?

How to Apply Headings

In Microsoft Word and PowerPoint:
- Adding a heading in Microsoft products (read)
- Improving accessibility with heading styles in Microsoft (watch)
In UVA Canvas:
- UVA Canvas Help - How do I make textual content more accessible? (read)
- Canvas Instructure – How do I add and modify text in the Rich Content Editor? (read "Change Text Style")
- Your School’s Instructional design team may have UVA Canvas templates that are digitally accessible with "set" headings.
Remember: Re-check the Accessibility of Existing Content

Specialized How-To's

Tables and Headings
- Create Accessible Tables in Word (watch)
- UVA Canvas Help – How can I make my tables accessible? (read)
- Canvas Instructure Help - How do I insert a table using the Rich Content Editor? (read)
How to Modify the Font Style of Built-In Headings: Microsoft: Customize or Create New (heading) Styles (read)

Where can I get support or further training?

Faculty Learning and Support

For faculty designing or managing website content, please review Web Accessibility Tutorials

References

W3C. (2024). How to Meet WCAG-Quick Reference.