Heading levels have meaning, especially for screen reader users and search engines. That means one unique first-level heading per page, with the other headings representing the page content similar to the index of a book: easily scannable and semantic.  If heading tags are misused, search engines and screen readers will get confused about how the content is structured and prioritized on the page. 

Screen readers also reference heading tags to understand how page content is structured: 

• A screen reader will notice the code and tell the user a heading (e.g., beeping or chime, announcing the level, etc.).  
• Screen readers also use headings to quickly navigate through content to jump from one heading to the next.

• Use the "Styles" pane from the Ribbon Formatting: 
• From the "Styles" on the "Home" Ribbon, select the level of heading you want.  
• Microsoft offers the following video on how to make accessible headings in Word. 

The different heading style sizes help visual learners understand how the subtopics relate to the main topics. If you are consistent in your header level structure, your audience who use visual cues can quickly scan your issues on your document based on text size: 

• Header 1 (Heading Level 1) is the largest font (Page title) 
• Header 2 is a larger font size than Header 3 
• Header 3 is a larger font size than Header 4 

• Is the H1 heading tag used only once?
  • H1 may serve as the 'title' of your brief document. 
• Are the headings too general?  
  • H2, H3, etc., tags can be used multiple times if you follow a natural document hierarchy. 
• Is the subheading logically placed?  
• Is each heading and subheading descriptive of all the following information?  
• Did you skip heading levels?  
  • Avoid skipping heading. For example, do not skip from <H2> to <H5>.  
• Did you use the Styles pane to make it visually distinguishable? 
  • Avoid simply putting section headings in bold without using the Styles pane.  
  • Avoid selecting heading levels based on their appearance. Select the heading rank in your hierarchy. 

• How to add a Heading  
• Heading ranks 
• Exception for fixed page sections 
• Organize passages of text 
• Headings that reflect the page organization 
• Example 1: Main heading before navigation 
• Example 2: Main heading after navigation 
• Headings (Word-only)
• Related WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guideline) resources