WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Query on heading hierarchy

for

From: Karlen Communications
Date: Mar 27, 2018 11:58AM

This is getting interesting in terms of mapping out a future standard. In PDF 2 we now have the concept of both a <Document> and a <DocumentFragment> Tag.

If we were to create an international content standard, we could specify that document authors/PDF remediators use sequential Headings, but if you are bringing content together from other places, or if you are only using a fragment of a document, then the use of sequential Headings is an exception to the specification. This would provide a mechanism to let people know whether they are viewing/accessing a document or a document fragment. We would need to work with developers to be able to make the distinction clear to those using adaptive technology.

The point of <DocumentFragment> as a Tag is to provide a way for chapters or segments of publications to be tagged without starting with an <H1> Tag. However, the same designation could be used for those few and far between exceptions of skipped Headings while preserving good document design principles for training/education.

In the meantime, we could add this concept to a best practices document...but I would like to see us work toward a standard rather than guidelines/best practices. And we still need a way to designate something as either a full document or <Document>or a <DocumentFragment>.

With standards committees moving away from content provisions, we need to move our best practices into standards we can point to for legal and procurement purposes.

Thoughts?

Cheers, Karen

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Bourne, Sarah (MASSIT)
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2018 4:22 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Query on heading hierarchy

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