Heading levels are skipped or out of order
Automated check heading-order, run with axe-core
- WCAG
- Best practice: a recommendation, not a WCAG success criterion
- Severity
- Moderate: a degraded experience
- Typical effort
- Moderate, 1 to 4 hours
- Category
- Page structure
Who this affects
Screen reader users, who navigate long pages by jumping between headings.
Why it matters
Headings are the primary navigation mechanism for non-visual users. A jump from h1 straight to h4 implies missing content and makes the page structure unreadable. It usually happens when headings are chosen for their font size.
How to fix it
Use heading levels in sequence to describe document structure, and control appearance with CSS rather than by picking a different level.
Check your own website
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