Think of headings as an outline or table of contents for your webpage. If a user only reads the headings on your page, it will describe the main topics and purpose of your webpage.
Heading 1 <h1>
- Heading 1
<h1>is the main topic of your page. - Should have the same or use similar keywords found in the page HTML title tag
<title>. - Screen readers can use the number 1 key on their keyboard to quickly jump to Heading 1. They expect this to be a page title.
Sub-headings
- Use heading 2 <h2> and heading 3 <h3> for subheadings.
- Although headings 4 through 6 are also available, using them may indicate you have too much content on the page.
View Heading Hierarchy on a Webpage
Use an accessibility tool like Accessibility Insights to identify headings and heading levels on a webpage.
View Heading Hierarchy in Microsoft Word
In the View tab, use the Navigation button to view a list of headings in the document.
Side-bars, Asides, and “Right Rails”
Layouts with a column on the right side of the page for ads and additional information.
- Section headers in this area typically begin with a heading 2 or a heading 3.
- Side-bars rarely contain heading 1’s.