Overview

• Headings help everyone, including people using screen readers or other assistive tools, to understand and navigate a document more easily.

Why Headings Matter

• Headings keep things organized 
• Headings make reading easier 
• Headings make skimming easy 
• Headings are shortcuts for screen reader users

WYSIWYG Headings

Feedback and guidance on WYSIWYG content are not available for every issue yet. WYSIWYG guidance is not available for headings.

Uploaded Document Headings

Ally gives guidance on uploaded document heading structure. 

• Click What this means or How to add headings for step-by-step instructions.

To resolve this low Ally score due to heading issues, you’ll need to update the document in Microsoft Word:

1. Open the file on your computer.
2. Add headingsusing Word’s built-in styles:
   • Select the text you want to format as a heading.
   • Go to the Home tab.
   • In the Styles group, choose the appropriate heading style:
     • Use Heading 1 for the main title (level 1),
     • Heading 2 for section titles,
     • Heading 3 for subsection titles, and so on.
     • Use Normal for regular paragraph text.
3. Save the updated file.
4. Upload the revised file to your course.

Steps to improve heading accessibility

• Make headings clear: Write short headings that tell people about the section.
• Don’t fake it: making text bigger and bold doesn’t count! Use the built-in heading options for best accessibility practices. 
• Structure your document: Use Heading 1 for main sections, Heading 2 for subsections, and Heading 3 for smaller divisions.
• Maintain consistency: Avoid skipping levels (e.g., do not jump from Heading 1 to Heading 3).
• Use headings for tables of contents: Headings can automatically create a Table of Contents.

Additional heading resources:  

Adding Headings to a Document