Organize content using hierarchically nested headings
no. 012
Make sure headings are nested hierarchically in order to facilitate navigation
Properly nesting headings without skipping any hierarchical levels is not a requirement per se, but it facilitates navigation and automatically contributes to a more logical document outline. This is invaluable for users who rely on this outline to understand what the page is about – much like what is expected from a table of contents. Therefore, skipping hierarchy levels when using headings can easily bring confusion to some users, especially if they have no other way of confirming whether they missed a level of information or not.
To do this, simply make sure that each content section starts with a heading that is properly nested in the document structure. Properly nested headings will be of the appropriate hierarchical level (if a section starts with a second-level heading, then all sub-headings of that section should be third-level, and so on). This will provide users of assistive technology with a mechanism to easily understanding the overall document structure.
User Story
As a user using assistive technology, I want the section heading structure of a page to follow a logical and hierarchical sequence, so that I can reliably [...]