RE: [WSG]headers

Trusz, Andrew Tue, 06 Jul 2004 09:04:02 -0700

>On the H1 issue, there are many people that think using an H1 around the logo or hidden text. Unfortunately, that is improper. Your H1 should be visible and should >support the title of the page.

>>Yes it does... but I'm also quite confused. I thought the way I set up the page would better if you can't see the pageand have to use a screenreader. Is it better to use >>the H1, H2 and H3 tags the way you described or is the way I use them also OK? (and that would be H1=group describtion, H2=page describtion and H3 as >>describtion for the paragraphs which are short news)

Kim, here's what the html4 specs say about Headings:

<quote>

A heading element briefly describes the topic of the section it introduces. Heading information may be used by user agents, for example, to construct a table of contents for a document automatically.

There are six levels of headings in HTML with H1 as the most important and H6 as the least. Visual browsers usually render more important headings in larger fonts than less important ones.

The following example shows how to use the DIV element to associate a heading with the document section that follows it. Doing so allows you to define a style for the section (color the background, set the font, etc.) with style sheets.

<H1>Forest elephants</H1>

<P>In this section, we discuss the lesser known forest elephants.

...this section continues...

<H2>Habitat</H2>

<P>Forest elephants do not live in trees but among them.

...this subsection continues...

</DIV>

This structure may be decorated with style information such as:

<HEAD>

<TITLE>... document title ...</TITLE>

DIV.section { text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt}

DIV.subsection { text-indent: 2em }

H1 { font-style: italic; color: green }

H2 { color: green }

</STYLE>

</HEAD>

Numbered sections and references

HTML does not itself cause section numbers to be generated from headings. This facility may be offered by user agents, however. Soon, style sheet languages such as CSS will allow authors to control the generation of section numbers (handy for forward references in printed documents, as in "See section 7.2").

Some people consider skipping heading levels to be bad practice. They accept H1 H2 H1 while they do not accept H1 H3 H1 since the heading level H2 is skipped.

</quote>

You'll notice this says nothing about pages. The text discusses identifying main sections and subsections relating to the main section. The example given shows headings used in a division not a page. The discussion has to do with the logical relationship of headings to sectional topics.

Logical inference based on text and example leads to several "guidelines". Firstly, all headings within a section must relate to the topic of the section of which the headings are a part. The section must a logical consistency in terms of its content. If the section discusses how to nail a fascia board it shouldn't have instructions for laying roof tiles. So if you extract all headings they would fall into logical and separate, possible related, content groupings.

Secondly, the only required heading is h1. You have to start with h1 and add subheads all of which have to be related to the h1 section topic. The vague discussion of "some people" not approving of skipped levels does not say that a hierarchy of headings is required. But that stricture and the section on styling do imply that headers should not be used for font effect. Style the header but style it within its structural usage, just as the example does.

It might be considered de classe to use a single h1 for an entire site but it is no more so than insisting each page have its own h1. The use of headers is an author's choice requiring only that the header be used correctly. Indeed there is no requirement that any headers be used. Good writing can obviate the need for headers, although their presence certainly makes things easier for the reader. So if your h1 is a multiple page grouping with h2 identifying the separate pages, that seems proper. If your h3 is used for font sizing and appearance, that is improper. But if the h3 is used to introduce the new shorts, that seems proper.

drew

RE: [WSG]headers

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