Writing accessible web content

Headings in web content

Use meaningful headings to structure and split up information so it's easier to scan.

On this page

Why you should use headings

A heading describes the content that comes after it. Headings structure and organise a page into sections and sub sections. 

Headings help:

  • sighted readers quickly scan content and find what they want
  • screen readers and other assistive technology users skip through sections of content quickly
  • AI tools understand what your text is about

When used correctly, headings help those who can and cannot see a screen find information faster.

Making headings accessible

Headings must be made accessible to people who can and cannot see them.

For sighted users, headings must visually look different, usually by making text bigger, bold and sometimes a different font to normal text.

For those who cannot see a page, headings need special tags for digital tools to understand and navigate them.  A screen reader, for example, can then list headings like a table of contents and skip through content on a page.

Creating headings as a web editor

The visual look of headings is usually pre-set by a website's developer.

Web editors must apply heading tags in content to make them accessible to different digital tools.  

If you are a web editor, learn more at How to make web pages accessible.

Creating headings as a document author

Authors who publish digital documents on our website meant for online reading must add both visual styling and heading tags to headings.

In Word, you can add a heading level and modify how they look using the 'Styles' panel. 

If you are a document author, learn more at How to make Word document accessible.

Headings in PDFs

A PDF, or Portable Document Format, is not designed to be a flexible online format so they can cause access barriers for our users.

If you create a PDF document, make sure your headings are accessible.

Most authors do not have access to the special paid software needed to do this after a PDF has been created. The easiest way to do this is to create an accessible source document using heading styles, usually in Word, then export it to a tagged PDF.

We explain how to do this in How to make Word document accessible

Writing, structuring and presenting headings

Writing good headings takes practice and judgement. Here's what we recommend to help.

Writing headings

A heading should:

  • be short (60 characters or less)
  • be clear and descriptive
  • use plain language
  • put important words early (front-load)
  • use ‘active’ words like the ones on this page
  • use sentence case (except for proper nouns): 'This is sentence case' and 'This is Title Case'
  • use words people would use to search for the topic

A heading should not:

  • be unhelpful like ‘Learn more’
  • contain unneeded jargon or technical language
  • use 'introduction’ as your first heading - just give the information
  • end with punctuation like full stops or colons unless required for meaning, like a question
  • be questions (where possible) - people want answers, not questions
  • include abbreviations or acronyms unless well known, for example: UK, EU or NHS.

You do not always need text between headings. For example, users expect to go from heading 1, normally the page title, to heading 2 without any text between. But sometimes, adding text between headings provides helpful context.

Structuring and presenting headings

Avoid more than 3 heading levels (4 max). If you use more, it's a sign your heading structure is too complex.

Be sure to:

  • plan a clear, logical structure for sections and sub-sections
  • use tagged or coded headings, like Microsoft heading styles or a website editing tool's pre-formatted headings
  • start at heading 2 in web page content - h1 is usually the page title
  • start at heading 1 in document content (the main title), then heading 2 to 4 for sections and subsections, like chapters in a book
  • make all headings at the same level look the same (font, size and colour)

Do not use:

  • visual-only styling like all caps, bold, underline or italics to show a heading
  • skipped headings, for example, going from heading level 2 to 4 because you think it looks better 
  • more than one heading level 1 in documents (in most cases)
  • images of text (image banners) as headings instead of text

Related resources

Guidance on writing headings

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines about headings