re’s some quick rules of thumb:
- With webpages (or with documents that are meant to become webpages) it’s very straightforward: there should only be one single “Heading 1” on a webpage, so start with a Heading 1 and don’t use the “Title” style.
- With Word documents, if your document is short- or medium-length, start with a “Heading 1” as well and use “Heading 2s” and so on for each of your sections.
- If your Word document is a thesis, a long report, or a book with multiple chapters, you can start it with a “Title” and use “Heading 1s” for each chapter, for example.
In most everyday cases, though, I’d suggest starting with a “Heading 1” and not using the “Title” style. Remember, if you don’t like the font size or style that each of these use, you can easily customize them.
Overall, the important thing is to keep a consistent, nested structure, so if you use a Heading 1 to start off your document, don’t add other Heading 1s later in your document. Use Heading 2s to start each section, Heading 3s for any sub-sections, and so on.
If you’re writing a longer document and starting with a “Title”, then the same principle applies – there should only be one “Title” in your entire document, and each section or chapter would then start with a Heading 1.
Whichever one you use, the Heading 1 or Title that you start with becomes the top of the hierarchy (or top of the metaphorical Christmas tree), and everything else follows below it. It may sound complicated at first but you’ll get the hang of it fast.
Bonus: use paragraph spacing, not empty linebreaks
If you want to become a heading superstar – and do a huge favour to anyone turning your documents into webpages down the road – this last bonus tip is for you. It’s about normal paragraphs, as it turns out, not headings.
To create space between paragraphs, people normally just hit “Enter” twice to leave a blank space. The problem with that is that, if someone were to read your document with a screen reader, they’d keep being told about the blank lines – interrupting the flow from one paragraph to the next.
The way to fix this is to add “paragraph spacing” after each paragraph. You can do this from the “Line spacing” dropdown menu,
…or from the Paragraph options box that you access by right-clicking on your text and choosing “Paragraph”.
I typically use something like “10 pt” after each paragraph, and “0 pt” before each paragraph. Choose what looks like a normal space and you’ll be fine.
After you’ve done that, and while your text cursor is still in the same paragraph, go up to the Styles panel (from above), right-click on the “Normal” option, and click “Update Normal to match selection”. That will apply your new line spacing to every paragraph, including future ones that you type. Now, you don’t need to hit “Enter” twice between paragraphs. You’re good to go!
Sometimes this kind of line spacing can confuse people, when they really want to make two lines of text that are next to each other (for example, for a signoff or signature and job title at the bottom of a document). In those cases, you can use “Shift + Enter” on your keyboard (hold Shift and push Enter) to add a line break that doesn’t have the extra line spacing attached.
When you customize your heading styles (using the instructions above) and save a reusable template file, adding a Normal paragraph style with line spacing is a great addition. You can use the same line spacing options to customize the space around your headings. It’s a whole typographic art. The more you know!
A number of universities have great websites that discuss accessibility best practices in Microsoft Word. This includes how to create good headings, along with other important steps (alternative image text, using tables and lists properly, and using Word’s built-in accessibility tools):
- Wright State University’s Accessibility for Online Course Content
- OCAD’s Accessible Digital Office Document (ADOD) Project
- University of Washington’s Accessible Technology website
- Penn State’s Accessibility website
Another great resource is the WebAim guide to cr