Headings must follow appropriate relative hierarchy to other headings on the same page.
| WGAC 2 criterion | 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A) |
|---|---|
| Category | Structure |
| ACT Rules |
WCAG 2 criterion
1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A)
Tools and requirements
- WAVE
Test procedure
Using WAVE, identify the heading structure using the "Structure" tab. For each heading
- Identify the top-level heading on the page. It should usually be Heading 1.
- Ensure that the top-level heading content represents the page content (e.g. it should be the title of the page)
- Ensure that subheadings are appropriately assigned levels.
- All subheadings MUST make logical sense as a subheading of the previous higher-level heading. (If a H4 is positioned after a H2, the H4 MUST make sense as a subheading of the H2).
- Headings that are siblings MUST have the same level assignment.
- Headings MUST NOT be used for presentation purposes (you can't use a H5 simply to have smaller text for example).
- Headings that are subheadings should be 1 level lower than the parent.
- It is not a strict failure if this specifically is not adhered to (do not mark a failure solely because headings are not in sequential order), but it goes against best practices.
- Ensure that all headings make sense as headings
- Headings must represent all the paragraph content which follows. Sometimes authors will use subheadings to add additional detail to the heading, but this is not an appropriate practice.
- Example: An Article title is given H3. The date following is given H4. This is a failure of this criterion because the date is not the item representing the proceeding content, it is the article title. The date should not be a heading.
- Headings must represent all the paragraph content which follows. Sometimes authors will use subheadings to add additional detail to the heading, but this is not an appropriate practice.