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Re: What success criteria does empty headings violate?

for

From: Robert Fentress
Date: Jan 30, 2018 8:57AM

ComplianceSheriff also flags it as a warning under 2.4.6, so that is
another piece of evidence.

On Tue, Jan 30, 2018 at 9:21 AM, Patrick H. Lauke < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> On 30/01/2018 14:14, Robert Fentress wrote:
>
>> If you have an empty heading tag, which, if any, WCAG success criteria do
>> you feel this violates? I think it should be viewed as violating WCAG SC
>> 2.4.6 Headings and Labels
>> <https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/navigation-
>> mechanisms-descriptive.html>
>> (as
>> does WAVE), since an empty heading cannot describe any "topic or
>> purpose" but it is, nonetheless, semantically, a heading. Some other very
>> knowledgable people disagree, considering this to be merely a violation of
>> best practice. Others may also think it violates WCAG SC 1.3.1
>> Information
>> and Relationships
>> <https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/content-structur
>> e-separation-programmatic.html>
>> (such
>> as WAVE, HTML Code_Sniffer and SiteImprove), and even WCAG SC 2.4.1 Bypass
>> Blocks
>> <https://www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/navigation-
>> mechanisms-skip.html>
>> (such
>> as WAVE), but those are probably more of stretch, in my opinion. What do
>> you think?
>>
>
> I've been known to mark these sorts of things as failure just under 1.3.1.
> I can see the interpretation that this could also fall under 2.4.6 (though
> I generally "look" at the page for anything that acts as a visible
> heading/label, and then determine if that is appropriately descriptive -
> but thinking more deeply, you've got a point). I'd say marking BOTH 1.3.1
> and 2.4.6 as fails in this case is appropriate.
>
> P
> --
> Patrick H. Lauke
>
> www.splintered.co.uk | https://github.com/patrickhlauke
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> twitter: @patrick_h_lauke | skype: patrick_h_lauke
>
> > > > >



--
Rob Fentress
Senior Accessibility Solutions Designer
Assistive Technologies at Virginia Tech
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