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Re: Headings: requirements vs best practices

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From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Jun 21, 2016 1:11PM

WCAG does not require an h1 heading, nor does it limit the number of
h1 headings on your page.

Neither does it dictate what heading levels you use other than that
they reflect the hierarchy of your content, especially when that
hierarchy is visually communicated.
Imagine:
h2 Chapter 1 class="huge letters"
h1 Chapter 1, subsection 1, (in smaller letters).
h1 Chapter 1, subsection 1.1 (in even smaller letters).

This is a violation of WCAG 2.0 1.3.1, because the heading levels do
not reflect the hierarchy of the content, nor the way it is
communicated visually.
However, if you did
h1 chapter 1
h3 chapter 1.1
h6 chapter 1.1.1
it would not be a WCAG failure, though it could cause problems if you
use other headings in the document, or if the visual presentation does
not match.

Another heading failure is text that truly looks like a heading (using
CSS, maybe is implemented using the <strong> element, text on a line
by itself) but is not marked up as one.

If the <strong> element is used to emphasize an inline phrase, thatis
not a heading failure, since the text is not meant to be a heading,
e.g. is not on a line by itself.
RE SEction 508, I don't think it dictates the h1 requirement, but I
have not done SEction 508 audit in almost 3 years so I would have to
re-check.
It used to be an NFB NVA webpage certification requirement.
Cheers



On 6/21/16, Alan Zaitchik < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> Can someone help resolve the questions we've been tussling with concerning
> headings:
>
> 1. Is it a legal requirement (section 508) that each web page have at
> least one H1 heading?
> 2. Is it a legal requirement (section 508) that each web page have at
> most one H1 heading?
> 3. Does WCAG 2.0 level AA require that each web page have at least one H1
> heading?
> 4. Does WCAG 2.0 level AA require that each web page have at most one H1
> heading?
>
> I want to ask similar questions about the ordering of headings at other
> levels, but let me start with H1 to begin with.
>
> Thanks,
>
> A
> > > > >


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