Write headings that describe their sections
A heading is a promise about what follows. G130 asks you to keep that promise, so a reader can tell from the heading alone what the section holds and how it relates to the rest of the page. W3C suggests putting the most important words first, because that is what makes a list of headings skimmable. This is a sufficient technique for 2.4.6 Headings and Labels at Level AA, and there are only two on that list. This one covers headings. Its twin covers labels. One thing 2.4.6 does not ask for is worth knowing before you write the ticket. It does not require a page to have headings at all. It requires the ones you do use to describe their topic or purpose, which is a different obligation from the one people usually assume.
How we find it in an audit
A scanner can list headings and spot an empty one. It cannot judge whether a heading tells the truth about its section. Our reviewers pull the heading list the way a screen reader user does and read it on its own, with the page out of view. If the list does not work as a table of contents, the headings are not descriptive, however good the sections underneath them are.
How affected users experience it
Screen reader users navigate long pages by heading, and many pull up the full heading list first to decide where to go. That list is the whole page reduced to its signposts. Three sections called 'Overview', 'Details' and 'More information' reduce to nothing at all, so the only way left is to read the page from the top. Headings that name their content turn a twenty-minute listen into a ten-second choice.
Passes vs. fails
Passes
Headings state what each section holds, such as 'Cancel your subscription', 'Refund timelines' and 'Contact billing support'.
Fails
Every section of a help center page is headed 'Overview', 'Details', or 'More information'.
How this gets tested
The W3C publishes test rules that define what a checker looks for here.
- Form field label is descriptiveA tool can check this
- Heading is descriptiveA tool can check this
Other ways to satisfy this rule
4 guides on this site are filed under 2.4.6 Headings and Labels. W3C lists this one as sufficient for that rule on its own. Implement it correctly, in a way your readers' software actually supports, and the rule is met.
This guide is our interpretation of W3C technique G130: Providing descriptive headings. W3C publishes its techniques as guidance rather than as the standard, and says so on every one of them. The success criterion is what conformance is measured against, and a technique is one documented way to meet it.