WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: roles and headers

for

From: Chagnon | PubCom
Date: May 1, 2013 9:28AM


Don't confuse headers with headings!

Clarification:
Header is not the same as Heading and the difference between the two is
enormous.

A header appears at the top of the page. It's nonessential information
that's repeated on most, if not all, pages such as the date of the
publication or page number. Screen reader users generally don't want to have
headers voiced for many reasons.

Headings, on the other hand, are all the headlines and subheads in the
document. They are critical for navigation by AT users and not only provide
a method of quickly skimming and navigating the document, but also can
convey the overall structure of the document, too.

To help keep the 2 closely-worded and often-misused terms straight, Headers
are often mated with Footers at the bottom of the page.

-Bevi Chagnon
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
www.PubCom.com - Trainers, Consultants, Designers, Developers.
Print, Web, Acrobat, XML, eBooks, and U.S. Federal Section 508
Accessibility.
New schedule for classes and workshops coming in 2013.