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Incorrect Heading Order
Notice Type: Error
Relevant WCAG Conformance Levels: AA, AAA, A
Did an “Incorrect Heading Order” error appear in an Accessibility Checker audit of one of your WordPress posts or pages? Read on below for an explanation of this error, how it impacts your website’s accessibility, and how to fix it.
Table of Contents
- About the Incorrect Heading Order Error
- How are headings correctly structured in HTML?
- What does the Incorrect Heading Order error mean?
- How does Accessibility Checker test for incorrect heading order?
- Impact on Accessibility
- Why are heading levels important?
- How incorrect heading order hurts accessibility
- Relevant WCAG 2.1 Success Criteria
- 1.3.1 Info and Relationships – Level A
- 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks – Level A
- 2.4.6 Headings and Labels – Level AA
- 2.4.10 Section Headings – Level AAA
- How to Fix an Incorrect Heading Order Error
- What to do (in short)
- How to find and fix skipped heading levels on your WordPress posts or pages
- Tips for ensuring proper heading order
- Example of good heading structure
About the Incorrect Heading Order Error
How are headings correctly structured in HTML?
In HTML, headings are denoted with what are colloquially referred to as “H tags.” These tags go in order from <h1>, the most important, to <h6>, the least important. [...]