Skip to Main Content College of the Rockies
← BACK TO LEARNING COMMONS PAGE
Centre for Innovation in Teaching & Learning
CONTACT

Digital Accessibility

Layout (Semantic Headings, Descriptive Titles, and Lists)

 

Organize your content with a structure that both visual readers and assistive technologies can understand. Use semantically designated headings, meaningful titles, and properly formatted lists to create clear pathways through your material.

 

What Are Semantically Designated Headings?

Semantic Designation: Assigning meaning and structure to content using the appropriate heading tags or styles.

Purpose: Makes content visually organized and ensures that assistive technologies, such as screen readers, can interpret the structure correctly.

Example: Use proper heading tags (e.g., <h1>, <h2>, <h3> in HTML) or Word’s (or with Moodle's text editor) built-in heading styles, instead of just making text bold or larger.

Benefit: Helps screen readers and other accessibility tools recognize the hierarchy of content, enabling efficient navigation and better comprehension for all users.

 

  • Use Built-In Heading Tools: Always apply the heading styles provided by your software (e.g., Word, Google Docs) instead of manually formatting text with bold or larger fonts. 
  • Word Classic Ribbon with Styles menu open, showing options for paragraph and heading levels

 

  • Avoid Skipping Levels: Maintain a logical heading hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3 → H4) to ensure content is organized and easy to navigate for all users, including those using assistive technologies.
    • Suggested Structure:
      • H1: Main document title or page title 
      • H2: Major sections 
      • H3: Subsections within a section 
      • H4: Sub-subsections, if needed   
    • Why it matters: Skipping heading levels (e.g., jumping from H2 to H4) can confuse screen reader users. Assistive technologies rely on the heading structure to convey the relationship between sections. If levels are skipped, users may think content is missing or lose track of the organization, making navigation and comprehension difficult.
  • Convey Clear Structure: Headings should provide an accurate outline of the document, reflecting sections and subsections clearly.
    • Example:
      • Instead of "Module 1" → use → Module 1: Introduction to Digital Accessibility 
      • Instead of “Lesson 2” → use → Lesson 2: Creating Accessible Documents
  • Label Content Accurately: Each heading must accurately describe the content that follows, helping all users quickly locate and understand information.

  • Use the Navigation Pane or Outline View to review headings for proper levels, organization, and meaningful descriptions. 
  • Word Navigation Pane displaying three heading levels: H1 for the title, H2 for main sections, and H3 for subsections.
  • Correctly applied semantic headings allow you to create a linked Table of Contents, enabling readers to jump directly to each section with a single click—perfect for long documents. 
  • Word References menu highlighting the option to insert a Table of Contents using semantic headings.

 

Format lists using the list tools provided in your editor—ordered (numbered) or unordered (bulleted)—instead of manually typing dashes, asterisks, or numbers. Correct list markup ensures that screen readers announce items as part of a group, helping users understand how the information is related.

Lists are particularly useful for steps, navigation items, grouped concepts, and any content that benefits from a clear, structured presentation.