Use descriptive headings to structure and chunk the contents of your page to enable users to quickly skim.
This is especially important when the information is complex or lengthy. Headings are also an important way assistive technology users navigate pages.
- Headings should NOT be links.
- Be descriptive.
- Use title case (capitalize principal words and only capitalize articles and prepositions when at the beginning) or sentence case (capitalize 1st word only) when heading is a punctuated sentence.
- Don’t use all caps.
- Don’t include a colon at the end.
- Use active verbs where appropriate but avoid gerunds (verbs ending in -ing) unless doing so is misleading because makes it sound like more action is possible than it really is.
- Use the heading style selections offered in WordPress (don’t just make the text bigger and/or bold).
- Make sure headings are properly nested like you would in an outline. H3 must be nested under an H2 and H2 must be nested under an H1. Don’t select a heading based on the visual style.