Back to Learn
Pulseaccessibility

Headings Appear in Sequential Order

What This Audit Checks

This audit verifies that heading elements (h1 through h6) follow a sequentially descending order without skipping levels. An h2 should follow an h1, an h3 should follow an h2, and so on. You can step back up (e.g., from h3 to h2) when starting a new section.

Why It Matters

Screen reader users navigate pages by jumping between headings. Skipped levels (e.g., jumping from h1 to h4) make users think they missed content and break the document outline they depend on to understand page structure.

How to Fix It

  • Map out your heading hierarchy before building the page. Start with a single h1, then nest h2 sections beneath it.
  • Never choose heading levels for font size. Use CSS to style headings. Pick the level that reflects the document structure.
  • Fix skipped levels. If you have an h1 followed by an h3, either insert an h2 or promote the h3 to h2.
<!-- Bad: skips from h1 to h3 -->
<h1>Dashboard</h1>
<h3>Recent Activity</h3>

<!-- Good: sequential order -->
<h1>Dashboard</h1>
<h2>Recent Activity</h2>
<h3>Today</h3>
<h3>Yesterday</h3>

How Pulse Tracks This

Pulse flags this audit in your Lighthouse accessibility score. When the audit fails, Pulse shows which elements triggered it so you can fix them directly.

Resources