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Re: Query on heading hierarchy

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From: Bourne, Sarah (MASSIT)
Date: Mar 26, 2018 2:21PM

Why would you want to skip a heading level? I came across an example the other day. Content is created as a collection of components in a content management system. There are components that can be re-used in different contexts, such as the location information for a specific office. When the component was first created, it needed an H4 heading for where it was used. And then new page types were created and somebody wanted to use it in a place that had no H3 headings. It turns out that this is a non-trivial problem to fix - for all the same reasons that HTML5 automatic heading outlines have never been implemented.

My advice was that it was better to skip a level on some pages, than to have it be at too high a level on others. Not optimum, but it's not the worst thing that can happen.

sb
Sarah E. Bourne
Director of IT Accessibility
Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS)
1 Ashburton Place, 8th Floor, Boston, MA 02108
Office: (617) 626-4502
<EMAIL REMOVED> | www.mass.gov/eotss