[SEC508] Proper nesting, WCAG and HTML

["Lars Ballieu Christensen" <lbc@sensus.dk>]

Hi all

 

Back in the good old days of WCAG 1, there seemed to be consensus that it was beneficial to the accessibility of web pages to next headings properly and avoid level skipping in headers. Bobby even reported errors in the nesting of headers with a reference to WCAG 1 checkpoint 3.5; in the HTML 4.01 specification there is a note that some people consider it bad practice to skip heading levels.

 

However, although HTML 5 seems to introduce a stricter regime for proper nesting and levels, WCAG 2 appears to be going in the opposite direction. As such, WCAG 2 goes as far as to reference a sufficient technique where a H1 is not even the first header element on a page (see http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20081211/H42).

 

In our opinion, proper nesting and a strict use of levels are important elements of accessibility not only for users of assistive technology but also to support automated processing of web pages.

 

I would appreciate your opinion on this subject.

 

Kind regards

 

Lars

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Lars Ballieu Christensen
Rådgiver/Adviser, Sensus ApS

Specialister i tilgængelighed/Accessibility Consultants
Tel: +45 48 22 10 03 – Mobil: +45 40 32 68 23 - Skype: Ballieu
Mail: lbc@sensus.dk – Web: www.sensus.dk & www.robobraille.org

 

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