WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

RE: Header tag

for

From: John Foliot - bytown internet
Date: Apr 30, 2003 1:27PM

Simon Jessey wrote:

> There is no failure here, that I can see. There should never be a
> reason to
> jump from a lower priority header to a higher priority header.

I'm sorry Simon, but I beg to differ...

Look at it this way:

<h1>Main Title</h1>

<h2>Section 1 - Here</h2>
<h3>This</h3>
<h3>That</h3>
<h3>The Other</h3>

<h2>Section 2 - There</h2>
<h3>This</h3>
<h3>That</h3>
<h3>The Other</h3>
<h4>An Alternative Other</h4>

<h2>Section 3 - Anywhere</h2>
<h3>This</h3>
<h3>That</h3>
<h3>The Other</h3>

Is perfectly valid, legitimate and semantically correct. If a validation
tool "fails" this, the tool is flawed.

(That this much content could "probably/possibly" be spread over multiple
pages is not the point here, although it would also be a recommendation.
However, structurally this is most correct.)

JF



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Simon Jessey [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2003 3:54 PM
> To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> Subject: Re: Header tag
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alastair Campbell" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Subject: RE: Header tag
>
>
> > I understand why heading tags should start with H1, followed by H2 then
> > H3 for page title, section and subsection. What I don't understand is
> > why you cannot start a new sub section, going from an subsection to a
> > new section (e.g. H4 to H2).
> >
> > James' example was:
> > h1 page title
> > h2 chapter 1
> > h3 section 1
> > h3 section 2
> > h2 chapter 2
> > h3 section 1
> > h4 sub-section 1
> >
> > Bobby would fail this for the H2 following an H3. Is there a reason for
> > this, or is it a slight bug in the check?
>
>
> There is no failure here, that I can see. There should never be a
> reason to
> jump from a lower priority header to a higher priority header. In the
> example given, chapters would normally be given unique documents, so the
> hierarchy would be like this:-
>
> <h1>Page Title</h1> (mimics the <title>...</title> element)
> <h2>Chapter</h2>
> <h3>Section 1</h3> (if required)
> <h3>Section 2</h3>
>
> If 'sub-sections' are required, then the documents should be further
> sub-divided into sections, with each section having its own page instead.
> This may seem like overkill, but it is the best method of maintaining a
> proper, hierarchical structure.
>
> Obviously there are exceptions to this. An example would be a W3C
> technical
> recommendation. These are made available as a single, enormous
> HTML file for
> those who prefer it, but such a file jumps up and down the header
> hierarchy
> because the original, multi-page document (which did not do this) was
> combined to make the large file.
>
> Simon Jessey
>
> w: http://jessey.net/blog/
> e: <EMAIL REMOVED>
>
>
> ----
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view list archives,
> visit http://www.webaim.org/discussion/
>
>
>
>



----
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view list archives,
visit http://www.webaim.org/discussion/