{"id":2215,"date":"2024-11-18T16:10:25","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T21:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=2215"},"modified":"2025-12-05T16:01:43","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T21:01:43","slug":"headings","status":"web-only","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/chapter\/headings\/","title":{"raw":"Document Headings","rendered":"Document Headings"},"content":{"raw":"<img class=\"alignright wp-image-2112\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Headings-e1731702112713.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"166\" height=\"120\" \/>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Headings\u2014when created properly\u2014benefit all learners to indicate logical structure, create connections between key concepts, provide an overview of information, and act as navigational waypoints to chunk information and increase readability. However, headings are not created by changing the font formatting with larger or bold text alone. In Word, Headings must be created using <\/span><strong style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Styles<\/strong><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">.<\/span>\r\n<h2>Who headings benefit<\/h2>\r\nReaders tend to skim through documents to gain an overview or find a specific section. Users who cannot see the document or have difficulty reading it can use assistive technology to browse in a similar way, provided a document has properly crafted headings.\r\n\r\nIf a document has no headings, or improperly created headings, users of assistive technology have to read line-by-line through the whole document to get to a specific point, instead of using headings to move to the section they need. Additionally, all users have no sense of overview, connections between topics, or hierarchy of information.\r\n<h2>How to ensure accessible headings<\/h2>\r\nOn the <strong>Home<\/strong> tab use the <strong>Styles gallery<\/strong> to set headings.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2361\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"568\"]<img class=\"wp-image-2361 size-full\" style=\"border: 1px solid #555\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/11\/Word-HeadingsWindowsCropped-e1732122171804.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"568\" height=\"231\" \/> Screenshot of Headings in Word for Windows Styles gallery[\/caption]\r\n\r\nTo create headings:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Select an existing line of text and then choose the appropriate heading level from the <strong>Styles gallery<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Choose the appropriate heading level from the <strong>Styles gallery<\/strong> before typing a new line of content.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nStructure headings with a heading level 1 as the broadest, most important level, such as a title.\r\n\r\nUse heading level 2 for major sections under heading level 1.\r\n\r\nUse heading level 3 for subsections under preceding heading level 2.\r\n\r\nUse heading level 4 for subsections under preceding heading level 3.\r\n\r\nCreate a nested, sequential heading structure in which each nested heading contains related information and, if necessary, higher heading levels. Headings must be in sequential order. Do not skip a heading level when <strong>increasing<\/strong>, e.g., do not go from a heading 2 to a heading 4. Heading levels can be skipped when <strong>decreasing<\/strong>, for example when a subsection of a heading level 4 concludes, you can skip back to a heading level 2 to introduce a new section. Any type of content can follow any heading level.\r\n<p lang=\"x-none\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/chapter\/structure\/#headings\">Brief but descriptive headings<\/a> help all users navigate quickly to information they need and understand the purpose of various sections.<\/p>\r\nThe <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/chapter\/word-accessibility-2\/#headings\">appearance of headings can be customized<\/a> to fit an aesthetic theme, colour scheme, or brand guidelines.\r\n<h2>Double Check<\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2105 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Word-DocumentStructure.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"399\" height=\"117\" \/>The <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/back-matter\/word-accessibility-assistant\/\">Word Accessibility Assistant<\/a> will flag <strong>No headings in document<\/strong> if a document over 10 pages does not have any headings. 10 pages is an arbitrary choice by Microsoft and headings should be included in any length of document that has distinct sections. Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/chapter\/document-structure\/#fix\">creating headings and building an accessible document structure.<\/a>\r\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\"><header class=\"textbox__header\">\r\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Next<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\r\n\r\nMove to the next page to understand\u202f<strong>Accessible Links<\/strong> or <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/chapter\/word-start-here-2\/#key\">select another accessibility practice to learn about<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2112\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Headings-e1731702112713.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"166\" height=\"120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Headings-e1731702112713.png 1080w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Headings-e1731702112713-300x216.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Headings-e1731702112713-1024x739.png 1024w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Headings-e1731702112713-768x554.png 768w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Headings-e1731702112713-65x47.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Headings-e1731702112713-225x162.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Headings-e1731702112713-350x252.png 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 166px) 100vw, 166px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Headings\u2014when created properly\u2014benefit all learners to indicate logical structure, create connections between key concepts, provide an overview of information, and act as navigational waypoints to chunk information and increase readability. However, headings are not created by changing the font formatting with larger or bold text alone. In Word, Headings must be created using <\/span><strong style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">Styles<\/strong><span style=\"text-align: initial;font-size: 1em\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Who headings benefit<\/h2>\n<p>Readers tend to skim through documents to gain an overview or find a specific section. Users who cannot see the document or have difficulty reading it can use assistive technology to browse in a similar way, provided a document has properly crafted headings.<\/p>\n<p>If a document has no headings, or improperly created headings, users of assistive technology have to read line-by-line through the whole document to get to a specific point, instead of using headings to move to the section they need. Additionally, all users have no sense of overview, connections between topics, or hierarchy of information.<\/p>\n<h2>How to ensure accessible headings<\/h2>\n<p>On the <strong>Home<\/strong> tab use the <strong>Styles gallery<\/strong> to set headings.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2361\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2361\" style=\"width: 568px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2361 size-full\" style=\"border: 1px solid #555\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/11\/Word-HeadingsWindowsCropped-e1732122171804.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"568\" height=\"231\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/11\/Word-HeadingsWindowsCropped-e1732122171804.png 568w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/11\/Word-HeadingsWindowsCropped-e1732122171804-300x122.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/11\/Word-HeadingsWindowsCropped-e1732122171804-65x26.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/11\/Word-HeadingsWindowsCropped-e1732122171804-225x92.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/11\/Word-HeadingsWindowsCropped-e1732122171804-350x142.png 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 568px) 100vw, 568px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2361\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screenshot of Headings in Word for Windows Styles gallery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>To create headings:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Select an existing line of text and then choose the appropriate heading level from the <strong>Styles gallery<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Choose the appropriate heading level from the <strong>Styles gallery<\/strong> before typing a new line of content.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Structure headings with a heading level 1 as the broadest, most important level, such as a title.<\/p>\n<p>Use heading level 2 for major sections under heading level 1.<\/p>\n<p>Use heading level 3 for subsections under preceding heading level 2.<\/p>\n<p>Use heading level 4 for subsections under preceding heading level 3.<\/p>\n<p>Create a nested, sequential heading structure in which each nested heading contains related information and, if necessary, higher heading levels. Headings must be in sequential order. Do not skip a heading level when <strong>increasing<\/strong>, e.g., do not go from a heading 2 to a heading 4. Heading levels can be skipped when <strong>decreasing<\/strong>, for example when a subsection of a heading level 4 concludes, you can skip back to a heading level 2 to introduce a new section. Any type of content can follow any heading level.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"x-none\"><a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/chapter\/structure\/#headings\">Brief but descriptive headings<\/a> help all users navigate quickly to information they need and understand the purpose of various sections.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/accessibilityhandbook\/chapter\/word-accessibility-2\/#headings\">appearance of headings can be customized<\/a> to fit an aesthetic theme, colour scheme, or brand guidelines.<\/p>\n<h2>Double Check<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2105 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Word-DocumentStructure.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"399\" height=\"117\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Word-DocumentStructure.png 399w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Word-DocumentStructure-300x88.png 300w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Word-DocumentStructure-65x19.png 65w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Word-DocumentStructure-225x66.png 225w, https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2248\/2024\/08\/Word-DocumentStructure-350x103.png 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px\" \/>The <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/back-matter\/word-accessibility-assistant\/\">Word Accessibility Assistant<\/a> will flag <strong>No headings in document<\/strong> if a document over 10 pages does not have any headings. 10 pages is an arbitrary choice by Microsoft and headings should be included in any length of document that has distinct sections. Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/chapter\/document-structure\/#fix\">creating headings and building an accessible document structure.<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox textbox--key-takeaways\">\n<header class=\"textbox__header\">\n<p class=\"textbox__title\">Next<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"textbox__content\">\n<p>Move to the next page to understand\u202f<strong>Accessible Links<\/strong> or <a href=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/chapter\/word-start-here-2\/#key\">select another accessibility practice to learn about<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1655,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-2215","chapter","type-chapter","status-web-only","hentry"],"part":60,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1655"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3288,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2215\/revisions\/3288"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/60"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/2215\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=2215"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=2215"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/a11yondemand\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=2215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}