#30 Headings Aren’t Just Pretty Titles: Why Heading Order Matters for Accessibility
Mini-Series: Building an Accessible Website (Even If Tech Isn’t Your Thing)
Let’s talk about those bolded, attention-grabbing section titles on your website—yep, your headings. While they do look nice and help break up text, they also play a crucial role in helping people (and screen readers) navigate your site.
Think of your headings as the chapter titles and subheadings in a story. If they’re out of order, people get lost—and no one wants to be wandering around your "About Me" page like a confused character in the wrong fairytale.
Screen readers actually allow users to jump between headings and links rather than reading the entire page in the order that it appears.
What Is Heading Order?
Accessibility Rule: Use heading levels in the correct order (H1 → H2 → H3, etc.) and never skip levels.
A website’s structure is read not just visually, but by assistive technology too. Screen readers use headings to jump between sections. If your headings are out of order—say you go from H1 to H3 without an H2—it’s like skipping an entire subplot.
The screen reader will announce to the user that they jumped from a heading level 1 to a heading level 3. It gets confusing fast and your readers might think they missed something important.
How to Use Headings Correctly
Only One H1 Per Page
Your H1 is the main title of the page. Think: “Welcome to My Author Website” or the one on this blog post: “#30 Headings Aren’t Just Pretty Titles...”
Use H2s for Major Sections
This includes headings like the one in this post: “What Is Heading Order?” and “How to Use Headings Correctly”.
Use H3s for Subsections
See how my “How to Use Headings Correctly” H2 has these H3 subsections under it?
“Only One H1 Per Page”
“Use H2s for Major Sections”
“Use H3s for Subsections”
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Using headings just to make text bigger (headings are for showing the hierarchy of information on a page, not adjusting the font size!)
Skipping levels (don’t jump from H1 straight to H4)
Further clarification: You can use h2, h3, h4, etc. and then go back to an h2 if the next subsection has the same importance as your first h2. Example: How we went from an H3 “Use H3s for Subsections” back to an H2 for “Common Mistakes to Avoid”.
Putting important info before the first heading—screen readers might skip over it entirely
How to Check Heading Order
Many website builders (like WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace) let you choose heading levels in a dropdown menu when you add text. Use that instead of just adjusting the font size.
Need to Do Next:
Check that each page has only one H1
Make sure headings follow a logical order (H1 > H2 > H3…)
Don’t place content above your first heading
Avoid using headings just for font size/style
Let’s Talk!
Ever visited a site where you felt completely lost—like you didn’t know what came first, next, or at all? Let’s talk website confusion—and how we’re avoiding it together.
And if you’re ready for more step-by-step help that doesn’t require a tech manual (or magical incantations), subscribe to my newsletter.