Heading Level Skip
Headings should follow a logical hierarchy: h1 → h2 → h3. Skipping levels (like going from h1 directly to h3) creates a broken document outline. Screen readers use this hierarchy to let users navigate by sections.
Why It Matters
Users who navigate by headings (common with screen readers) expect a logical structure. Skipping from h1 to h4 makes them think they missed content. Search engines also use heading hierarchy to understand content importance.
Code Examples
<h1>Page Title</h1> <h3>Subsection</h3> <!-- Skipped h2 --> <h5>Detail</h5> <!-- Skipped h4 -->
<h1>Page Title</h1> <h2>Subsection</h2> <h3>Detail</h3>
How to Fix
- 1Use headings in order: h1 → h2 → h3 → h4 (never skip a level going down).
- 2You can skip levels going up: h3 → h2 is fine when moving to a new section.
- 3Use only one h1 per page — it should be the main page title.
- 4Don't choose heading levels for styling — use CSS to style h2 however you want.
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