The purpose and value of well structured headings
Advisory
The information on this page is only applicable if you're editing the University webpages using T4. It presumes that you have already completed the beginners and advanced level of the T4 training (a link for staff only - opens in new window).
Readability
Headings h1-h6 comprise the heading structure of your page. They break up the content into manageable sections, thereby improving its readability.
Relevance
Sighted readers visually scan headings, often unconsciously and very rapidly, to get an idea of the page content and its relevance to them. Non-sighted readers will also 'scan' headings through sound or touch, via a screen reader which communicates page contents via audio or braille.
Comprehension, recall and dissemination
Headings can:
- guide and influence the meaning derived from subsequent content
- focus attention on certain elements, thereby adding weight to their importance
This in turn affects the reader's understanding and recall of that content. In some circumstances, strong recall may result in the reader being more likely to discuss that content with others, and to relate that information with greater accuracy when they do so.
Headings can create quick and memorable mental anchors
Readers of your page can easily be distracted or interupted by other content, including incoming messages, emails and calls, depending on the device they're using. A heading can quickly signpost key information that the reader may mentally 'log' as worth returning to, even if they aren't able to read it on a first encounter.
Example
A heading of 'Storm Warning' may initiate a different reading purpose and emotional engagement than a heading of 'Weather Report', even if the subsequent text is identical.
- not read the text at all
- not read far enough to see the forecast of bad weather
- skim-read and miss the part about bad weather
- read it, but not consider the bad weather to be particularly important or memorable
Navigation
On screen readers, headings are used as a form of navigation. Someone using a screen reader can hear (or feel, via braille) the headings as a list, and choose to go directly to a specific heading and listen to the text there, rather than having to listen to the entire page to find the information they're seeking. The list will also indicate the level of each heading so that they can get a sense of the structure of a page.
Search engine optimisation (SEO)
Headings are considered by search engines for SEO (page ranking) by identifying the themes and subtopics within your page.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) accuracy and efficiency
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)
AI is used by search engines and some assistive technologies, as well as in chatbots such as ChatGPT and Copilot. All of these use the heading structure of a webpage, both the levels and the language used, to interpret the contents of that page. A better heading structure helps produce more accurate and useful results.
This practice is a form of Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). In the same way that SEO optimises webpages for search engine ranking, GEO optimises webpages for AI use.
Visual AI / computer vision
Visual AI, also known as computer vision, is a branch of artificial intelligence that can be used to interpret the contents of a webpage based on its appearance and design choices rather than text. This would include elements such as layout, font size, image contents, and colours.
However, Visual AI uses more computational resource than text-based AI, and is prone to error if the visual elements fail to load correctly. This means that headings still play an important contextual, supporting and fallback role, working in conjunction with Visual AI rather than being replaced by it.
