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Re: Heading structure

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From: Maupin, Brennan Polaris McCaffrey - maupinbp
Date: Mar 11, 2019 9:42AM

Patrick, thank you for the input! I will this technique vs. guideline noted!

As I am typing this it seems like a stupid question, but would you say that this issue could be applicable in 3.2.3 - Consistent Navigation? I know in this section they are talking more about content areas rather than headings, but it seems to me that if you use headings to lead content areas, and you use headings inconsistently in a set of webpages, you could be considered in violation of this guideline. What do you think? Would this also be a harsh interpretation?

Thanks,
-Brennan

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Patrick H. Lauke
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2019 10:29 AM
To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Heading structure

On 11/03/2019 13:02, Maupin, Brennan Polaris McCaffrey - maupinbp wrote:
[...]
> When I justify heading levels to people I cite guideline 141 which
> states that "To facilitate navigation and understanding of overall
> document structure, authors should use headings that are properly
> nested (e.g., h1 followed by h2, h2 followed by h2 or h3, h3 followed
> by h3 or h4, etc.)." [1]

Noting here that it's not a guideline (which is normative), but a technique (which is informative, so holds no formal weight).

Also, note the use of "should" rather than "must".

Of course, in a formal evaluation, you're free to mark 1.3.1 as a FAIL, but it's a very harsh interpretation I'd say (particularly in situations where a site may have far bigger fish to fry / far more fundamental problems). It's what I sometimes would call a "soft fail", as in "nobody dies because of it, but yes ideally it should really be fixed".

In my opinion, of course.

P
--
Patrick H. Lauke

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