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Re: headings

for

From: michael.brockington
Date: Feb 18, 2005 9:25AM

> -----Original Message-----
> From: lists38 [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> Sent: 18 February 2005 13:25
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] headings
>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: lists38 [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> >> ...
> >>
> >> A lot of developers use the H1 as the name of the site,
> the h2 as the
> >> section and so on, which is simply wrong.
>
> ...
>
> Headlines structure a document, not a web site.
> http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/global.html#h-7.5.5
>
Thanks for the explanation, but I'm still none the wiser.
What is wrong with every page on a site having the site name in an H1 and the
first content heading in an H2? Am I only allowed to have the site name as a
logo, or in the address bar?

I note above that you refer to these as headlines - maybe that was just a
typo, but they are actually Headers. (Just like in a table, where they are
normally very simple, but occasionally need to be repeated and/0r omitted).

I see nothing in the link above to support your argument - on an Intranet
the site name may not be important, but on the WWW it is very important: a
similar looking document from one site should not carry the same weight as
one from a reputable site. For that reason the site name is the most
important header on any page, so unless you want to put it into a banner
image then it should be an H1, and has indeed become a de-facto standard,
IMHO.

>
> Furthermore, they are a navigational aid for assistive
> technology inside the current document.
>
I didn't think that I was suggesting that we abuse them, rather I was trying
to establish how they are/should be used.

Mike


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