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Re: Heading without contents

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From: Dave Comeau
Date: Jan 5, 2023 7:24AM


To follow up on Bevi's point, another important concept in accessible PDF files is that are meant to be tagged in way that presents them as one continuous stream of content. This means there should be no concept of pages to a screen reader that is reading a PDF file, it should be a similar experience to reading one long HTML page.

Text content like "Page 1 of 10" should be tagged as pagination artifacts and not read by the screen reader.

So, if a page has a single H1 only it may be setting up a paragraph or other content that occurs on the next physical page.
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Sent: January 4, 2023 5:35 PM
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Subject: Re: [WebAIM] [EXTERNAL] Heading without contents

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In HTML, agree. A single webpage is an individual document.

But in PDF and Word documents, the entire file is the document, and it is correct to have only a heading on a page.

Another example where HTML and PDF/Word documents are different animals with different requirements.

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-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Mark Magennis
Sent: Wednesday, January 4, 2023 9:04 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] [EXTERNAL] Heading without contents

If the only thing on the page is a chapter title then it isn't a heading. It may be a 'heading' in the context of the publication but it isn't a heading in the context of the page content, so it shouldn't be marked up as an HTML heading.

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Karen McCall
Sent: Wednesday 4 January 2023 13:36
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] [EXTERNAL] Heading without contents

On the other hand, you might have an H1 on one page to introduce a chapter and the chapter content begins on the next page. I've seen this frequently in reports and publications. The heading is on a page of its own and the content begins on the next page. The content can start with a paragraph or another heading/H2.

I'm reading a technical manual at the moment that is structured this way.

It depends on the design of the publication and that each chapter title is on its own page. There would be a consistency to the layout/structure of the publication.

As someone using adaptive technology, a screen reader, I would be able to move from that heading 1 to the next piece of content easily in the document.

Cheers, Karen

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Swift, Daniel P.
Sent: Wednesday, January 4, 2023 7:51 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] [EXTERNAL] Heading without contents

I'll add to this in saying that (IMO) it would make sense if the H1 is immediately followed by an H2. I could envision a scenario where the H1 is the name of the organization and the H2 might be something like "Current Employment Opportunities".

Daniel Swift, MBA
Director of Web Communications
University Communications and Marketing
West Chester University
610.738.0589

From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Mark Magennis
Sent: Wednesday, January 4, 2023 7:28 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] [EXTERNAL] Heading without contents

I agree with you. This could be confusing. It could confuse sighted users who may wonder why the content is missing. It could confuse screen reader users even more because they may wonder whether the content is missing or whether it is there but just not being read by the screen reader. I would suggest a text para saying there is no information available but as specific as possible, e.g. "there are no employment records for this employee".

Mark

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >> On Behalf Of allyssa jessicon
Sent: Wednesday 4 January 2023 12:16
To: <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: [EXTERNAL] [WebAIM] Heading without contents

Hello everyone,

A very good morning and happy new year 2023.

Let me go straight into the question. Suppose if there is a heading but there is no content below it and the heading is also an h1, the top-level heading in the page. I believe this is not a good practice to have a heading without any content below it. Do I sound reasonable?
and avoiding heading without content below it is a best practice?

Appreciate each opinion and corrections.


Regards,
Alysa.