WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Headings: requirements vs best practices

for

From: Chagnon | PubCom
Date: Jun 21, 2016 2:34PM

Andrew's correct. They are not required.

However, you do have to take in account the user's expectations and avoid confusion. So in that light:

1. Since users often consider H1 the title of the webpage, it's a good practice to use it for your webpage titles. But not required.
2. Since users consider H1 the title of a page or a major section, it's a good practice to not overuse it, and having more than one on a page to title major sections is ok.

Many government agencies have their own interpretations of Sec. 508 and WCAG guidelines as they apply to their specific webpages and documents. Check with your agency about its specific policies. WCAG and Sec. 508 are a bit lousy goosey for a reason: not all webpages and documents can fit into one cookie-cutter format, so the guidelines have to be flexible enough to accommodate all sorts of information.

That's where best practices for your agency and specific types of content come into play.

--Bevi Chagnon


-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Andrew Kirkpatrick
Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2016 3:09 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Headings: requirements vs best practices

I love easy questions - the answer is no to all four questions.

AWK

>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
>>>archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
>