Add Headings in the Blackboard Content Editor

Why Use Headings

Accessible documents benefit everyone - not just those with disabilities! For example, accessible documents benefit cell phone and tablet users, as well as students with low bandwidth access. Accessible documents also make it easier for browsers to display them and are much easier to convert to various platforms or formats.

Headings aren’t just a good idea – they’re required for accessibility. There are several heading levels available in the Blackboard Content Editor (the WYSIWYG text editor).

Documents with a proper heading structure provide screen reader and other assistive technology users with the structure to:

• navigate by viewing a list of all of the headings on the page,
• choose top-level headings or levels of heading and
• read or navigate a document by using headings.

Most of us scan a document or page quickly and look for big, bold text (headings) to get an idea of its structure and content. Screen readers and other assistive technologies also need to scan a document. They read and navigate through a document by using the heading structure.

To do this, documents should be structured in a hierarchical manner:

• A Heading 1 is usually a page title or the main content heading. Generally, there is only one such header, and it is usually the most important.
• A Heading 2 is usually a major section heading.
• A Heading 3 is usually a sub-section of the Heading 2.
• A Heading 4 is usually a sub-section of the Heading 3, and so on, ending with Heading 6.

Note:

• Lower-level headings should be contained within headings of the next highest heading.
• You should not skip heading levels, such as using Heading 4 directly below Heading 2.
• Headings should have descriptive text that give users a good idea of the content they will find within that section of the document.