[Speaker] Welcome! Content Lab brings you the next in our series
about accessible content practices.
In this video, we'll learn why using headings in the correct
order is important for helping all users access your content.
Headings help all peoples scan a webpage
and understand its structure.
Visitors to your page will scan headings
to find information whether they're using
screen readers or not.
In a 2024 survey of 1,500 screen reader users,
71% said they use headings to find information,
and 89% of users find heading levels useful.
This is why it's important
to use heading levels in the correct
order and not skip levels.
The levels inform the user of the page structure.
The Mass.gov CMS is built
to support proper heading hierarchy.
The page title is the only "Heading 1"
or H1 on the page.
Section headings are automatically "Heading 2"
or H2. If you're adding subheadings
to break up long sections inside a rich text field, start with
"Heading 3" or H3.
Avoid using bold text to indicate a new subsection
of text under a heading 3
and use heading level 4 instead.
Screen readers don't recognize bolded text as headers,
so if you use bold in place of a heading, some
of your pages visitors might miss it.
Headings should be short, understandable, and descriptive.
Headings that are too long become difficult to scan quickly.
Focus on using words that are meaningful for the content.
The person hearing it should know exactly
what they will find in that section.
[Screen reader] Register as an intermediary
or operator's agent registering
and filing returns as a real estate agent.
Registering as an intermediary or operator's agent.
If you have multiple clients who are operating-
[Speaker] Headings that are too short like "Overview",
aren't informative about the content that follows.
Make sure your headings give context
to the content that follows.
For example, on the Starting a Business page,
the headings are both clear and concise.
The general guidance for starting a business section has
exactly that information.
The CMS has a built-in tool called Editoria11y,
that will notify you of any out
of order headings on your page
and other accessibility issues.
Remember, headings are used by all visitors to your page.
Using the proper heading hierarchy
and headings that give context without being too long will
improve your page for everyone.
For more accessibility help
and resources, visit the ACCESS Team website.