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Re: Query on heading hierarchy

for

From: glen walker
Date: Mar 22, 2018 12:59PM

That's one of the fun things about accessibility. We all have opinions on
how things should be interpreted and can share with each other.


On Wed, Mar 21, 2018 at 8:24 AM, Osmo Saarikumpu < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> On 20/03/2018 16:28, glen walker wrote:
>
>> +1 to Birkir. The purpose of the guideline is to make sure the semantic
>> heading levels match the visual presentation.
>>
>
> "The intent of this Success Criterion is to ensure that information and
> relationships that are implied by visual or auditory formatting are
> preserved when the presentation format changes." (Understanding SC 1.3.1)
>
> If I read you both correctly, you'd be saying that the underlying code
> should "support" or "confirm" the visual presentation? The way I read it
> is: it's all about the underlying information and it's relationship to the
> context, where visual formatting is just an aid for the visually capable.
> Or as the prose in <https://webaim.org/techniques
> /semanticstructure/#contentstructure> says:
>
> "When encountering a lengthy web page, sighted users often scroll the page
> quickly and look for big, bold text (headings) to get an idea of the
> structure and content of the page. Screen reader and other assistive
> technology users also have the ability to navigate web pages by heading
> structure, assuming true headings are used (as opposed to text that is
> styled to be big and/or bold). This means that the user can view a list of
> all of the headings on the page, or can read or jump by headings, or even
> navigate directly to top level headings (<h1>), next level headings (<h2>),
> third level headings (<h3>), and so on."
>
> It doesn't say it has to be
>> h1 followed by h2 followed by h3.
>>
>
> Right, not in the "Success Criterion", but in the "Semantic Structure"
> article (referenced URL) it says:
>
> "Pages should be structured in a hierarchical manner, generally with one
> 1st degree headings (<h1>) being the most important (usually page titles or
> main content heading), then 2nd degree headings (<h2> - usually major
> section headings), down to 3rd degree headings (sub-sections of the <h2>),
> and so on. Technically, lower degree headings should be contained within
> headings of the next highest degree (i.e., one should not skip heading
> levels, such as from an <h2> to an <h4>, going down the document)."
>
> The "WAVE Web Accessibility Tool" reflects the former quote. When I
> navigate to a page that skips a heading level, it says:
>
> *Alerts*
> Skipped heading level
>
> *What It Means*
> A heading level is skipped.
>
> *Why It Matters*
> Headings provide document structure and facilitate keyboard navigation by
> users of assistive technology. These users may be confused or experience
> difficulty navigating when heading levels are skipped.
>
> *How to Fix It*
> Restructure the document headings to ensure that heading levels are not
> skipped.
>
> *The Algorithm... in English*
> A heading level is skipped (e.g., an <h1> is followed by an <h3>, with no
> intermediate <h2>).
>
> While that's certainly ideal, there are
>> lots of situations where it makes sense to skip a level.
>>
>
> I'd argue that no such cases exist. This is due to the underlying markup
> language, that says:
>
> "Subsequent headings of equal or higher rank start new implied subsections
> that are part of the previous section's parent section. Subsequent headings
> of lower rank start new implied subsections that are part of the previous
> one. In both cases, the element represents the heading of the implied
> section.
>
> h1–h6 elements must not be used to markup subheadings, subtitles,
> alternative titles and taglines unless intended to be the heading for a new
> section or subsection."
>
> <https://www.w3.org/TR/html52/sections.html#headings-and-sections>
>
> --
> Best wishes, Osmo
> > > > >