Signs it is time to revisit heading structure
This is one of those topics that looks small until it costs you something. A few signals that heading structure is due some attention.
Accessibility work almost always improves the experience for people who have no impairment at all. It is the sort of thing that looks like polish right up until it costs you an enquiry.
The signals
- Nobody can say when it was last reviewed
- The answer depends on who you ask
- Headings are how many people navigate a page
- One h1, then no skipped levels
How to approach it
Do not choose heading levels for their font size. Small and consistent beats large and occasional here. Most teams find the first pass takes an afternoon and the maintenance takes minutes a month.
The short version
Most of it is correctness rather than charity: use the right element and much of it happens automatically. Three things worth confirming about heading structure before you move on:
- Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
- Do not choose heading levels for their font size — and you know whether that is true here
- There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped
The point is not perfection, it is knowing which of these you have consciously chosen to skip.