PDF headings: H1, H2 and the right level

Write down the document’s main heading, major sections and subsections without body text. This should form a useful map. You might use H1 for the main heading, H2 for major sections and H3 for their subsections. Our example is a common outline, not a rule that every document must contain exactly one H1.

Do not assign a heading tag simply because a sentence is large or bold. Conversely, a small subheading remains a heading when it introduces a section.

Sources: [1]

A heading helps readers understand what comes next and find the section again. Both its wording and level matter. “Other matters” may be correctly tagged but offer poor guidance. “How the fee is calculated” explains the content and makes the heading list useful.

Begin editorially before opening the tag panel. Read the headings in sequence. Can you explain the argument’s structure? Are sections at the same level genuinely peers? If “Exceptions” applies only to bus travel, it belongs beneath that topic rather than alongside the report’s main divisions.

This review may expose problems in the writing itself. An H3 tag cannot rescue a heading promising an answer its section never supplies. Correct the outline and wording in the source where possible so the improvement survives the next edition.

The document metadata Title field is separate from the tag on a cover title. PDF 2.0 also has a Title tag. In PDF/UA-1, choose the cover title’s tag according to its role; do not automatically change it to H1 without understanding the outline.

Sources: [2]

Read only the headings using assistive technology. Is a section missing? Does each line of a multiline heading appear separately? Does a subsection have a higher level than its parent? Repair these problems, then read the section content in sequence.

Use a screen reader’s heading list, then visit several entries. Check that the visible and announced headings represent the same content. Read the first paragraph after each: it should belong to that section, rather than be a footer or text from another column.

Watch for headings split across multiple tags. “Travel grant” and “application” may look like one two-line heading but appear as separate navigation entries. Group what is genuinely one heading without accidentally including following body text.

Choose levels by hierarchy rather than font size. A cover title may have a different function from a section heading. A repeated chapter name in the page header need not become a new navigable heading on every page. Inspect the actual list: a long sequence of identical entries can make it unusable.