Page titles
What to do
A page should have a short title that describes its topic and sufficiently distinguishes it from other pages.
Why it matters
Descriptive titles allow users to determine what page they are on.
Examples
Better page titles
- Center for Academic Excellence | Appalachian State University
- About | Center for Academic Excellence
Poor page titles
- Welcome to home page of Center for Academic Excellence
- Center for Academic Excellence | About Us
Headings
What to do
Sections should be identified with headings. Headings should be formatted with heading elements, as opposed to using font size or styles. Headings should not be used for formatting alone. Headings should be properly nested (i.e., don't jump from heading 1 to heading 3).
Why it matters
Headings allow assistive technologies to navigate page structure and more quickly find the content of interest, similar to the way a person without a visual disability scans the page to look for large, bold text.
Examples
Better headings
Section 1 (formatted with Heading 1 markup)
Paragraph text.
Section level 2a (formatted with Heading 2 markup)
Paragraph text.
Section level 3a (formatted with Heading 3 markup)
Paragraph text.
Section level 3b (formatted with Heading 3 markup)
Paragraph text.
Section level 2b (formatted with Heading 2 markup)
Paragraph text.
Poor headings
Section level 1 (formatted with a bold font instead of Heading 1 markup)
Paragraph text.
Section level 3 (formatted with Heading 3 markup, level 1 and 2 skipped)
Paragraph text.
Paragraph text. (formatted with Heading 2 markup only to make text bigger)
Lists
What to do
List content should be formatted as numbered or bulleted with list elements, as opposed to manually entering numbers or asterisks.
Why it matters
Assistive technologies can allow users to navigate from list to list or item to item.
Examples
Better lists
- List level 1 (formatted with numbered list markup)
- List level 2
- List level 3
- List level 3
- List level 2
- List level 2
Poor lists
* List level 1 (formatted with a manually entered asterisk)
* List level 2 (formatted with tab and manually entered asterisk)
* List level 2
Content references
What to do
Content should not only be referenced by shape, size, sound, or location.
Why it matters
Assistive technologies can be used to locate content that is specified by label, as opposed to content that is only referenced by its appearance or location.
Examples
Better content references
Poor content references
Use the list of links below to navigate to additional resources.