Accessibility Minute - November 2025

Welcome to our November issue of the Accessibility Minute Newsletter! This newsletter is produced by the CU Boulder Digital Accessibility Office (DAO) and covers one accessibility skill or topic per month. Please visit the DAO website to access past newsletters. As always, thank you for taking a minute (or two) to read.

Heading Structure

With the holidays approaching, we want to stay on theme with this month's newsletter and serve up an appetizer; a refresher on what headings are and why they're essential for accessibility. Save room for the main course! Next month, we'll dig into using Microsoft Office Styles to apply and customize headings like a pro.

What are Headings?

Headings are the title and subsections of your content. Clear, logical heading structure is essential to creating accessible content and provides a navigable outline of what information is in each section of your document or website. For screen reader users, headings help create a mental map of the content and provide a way to quickly navigate from section to section. In most cases, headings are visually styled to appear larger and bolded to draw the eye, helping sighted users quickly skim content and jump from section to section as well.

Heading Levels

Every heading is assigned a numerical level from 1 to 6 to indicate its relative importance to other headings and information on the page. The higher the heading level, the narrower the focus of your content. Let's break down what each heading level represents.

• Heading 1: the broadest topic of title of your content. Generally, there will only be one heading 1 on your document or website.
• Heading 2: introduces the main topics of your content. You can have multiple headings 2 through 6.
• Heading 3:subtopics related to your heading 2 used to help further break down your content.
• Heading 4:subtopics related to your heading 3.
• Heading 5:subtopics related to your heading 4.
• Heading 6:subtopics related to your heading 5. Do not exceed heading 6 as screen readers cannot read beyond heading level 6.

Let's say we're writing a document about animals. Our headings may be structured by the following example:

• Heading 1: Animals
  • Heading 2: Mammals
    • Heading 3: Cats
    • Heading 3: Dogs
      • Heading 4: Corgis
  • Heading 2: Birds
    • Heading 3: Songbirds
      • Heading 4: Blackbirds
        • Heading 5: How to identify a Blackbird
  • Heading 2: Amphibians

Headings should only increase by one heading level at a time. Meaning, never skip a heading level by nesting a heading 4 directly underneath a heading 2. You can apply multiple of the same heading levels in a row, but they must remain in chronological order. Alternatively, you can decrease by more than one heading level at a time. Meaning, you can complete a subsection at heading 4 then introduce a new broader subsection at heading level 2. In the animals heading structure example, we completed our section on mammals at a heading 4; Corgis, then introduced our next broader topic at heading 2; birds.

What's Next on the Menu?

Headings create structure, improve navigation, and make your documents and websites easier for everyone to use. We hope this is a good appetizer that will prepare you for the main course next month; a deep dive into using Microsoft Office Styles to apply and customize headings efficiently.

We are forever thankful for our subscribers. Enjoy the holidays and stay safe!