Headings

What are Headings?

Headings are signposts that structure text documents and allow readers to more easily navigate their way around a document. More than simply just bolded or italicized words, headings provide extra information about the structure of the document at the code level. Headings create an outline or a table of contents that helps users navigate content more easily. A number of assistive technologies can access this heading structure to make sense out of the document. This can help a visually-impaired users “scan” a document and jump back and forth between sections of text.

Headings Example

Creating headers is more involved than simply bolding or emphasizing heading or title information. In Microsoft Office products (including Word), you can only create headings using the Styles feature. The image below shows where to create headings in Word’s Styles pane.

Benefits of Headings for Readers

Headings can be incredibly useful for all readers, not just those using assistive technologies. Headings can generate a table of contents or interactive outline that anyone can use in documents such as Word and PDF. Headings can help with the following reading strategies:

• Getting an overview of the contents before reading
• Scanning for important contents
• Jumping to a particular section
• Breaking the reading into manageable chunks
• Easily referring back to a section when reviewing or studying

Benefits of Headings for Writers

Headings can be equally useful for writers. When writers use real, structural headings (instead of just bolded or enlarging text), they can:

• Save a lot of time on organizing content before and while writing
• Generate a Table of Contents and an interactive outline in Word
• Easily navigate, reorder, and delete content
• More efficiently format content throughout the document

Headings Guidelines

You can apply the concept of headings in almost every kind of electronic content, including Word documents, on the web, and in Blackboard courses. Look for menus that allow you to select headings in any text editor you use.

• Don’t try and create headings by bolding, italicizing, or using colorful text. Screen readers will not have access to this information, and will not be able to read or “scan” a document
• Use headings to provide a page structure or outline.
• Use headings to indicate sections of content.
• Nest appropriately in a hierarchy – avoid skipping levels.
• Avoid using headings purely for visual appeal or emphasis.
• Avoid over-use. If there’s no paragraph text below a heading, then it shouldn’t be a heading.