General Tags

Headings are denoted in the Tag Tree by <H1>, <H2>, <H3>, <H4>, <H5>, and <H6>. Headings in the Tag Tree should align with the headings in the document and should follow the basic order of the document.

Heading hierarchy must be maintained in the Tag Tree.

Tags lower in number can follow a higher number (<H1> can follow an <H2>).

However, tags greater in number must follow sequentially. (e.g. <H4> follows <H3> but never <H2>).

If headings are not in sequential order, the Appropriate Nesting error will be present. To fix the error:

> + to expand the list of incorrect elements

R> Element 1

> Show in Tags Panel

Since headings need to be in hierarchal order, you can fix the tag itself provided you know the sequence of headings used in the document. For example, if only one tag is inappropriately nested, simply change the tag itself. If <H4> should actually be a heading 2, simply replace the 4 with a 2 in the tag itself to get <H2>. If you are unsure of the sequence of headings, you may need to review the document in its entirety before making a structural change like this in the Tag Tree.

NOTE: tags must be perfect to be read by assistive technology. Pay close attention to capitalization, spacing, and abbreviations. A full list of tags is provided in the Glossary of Tags section of this Guide.

Once you make the appropriate changes to the Tag Tree, you can recheck the document by:

> Accessibility Checker

R> Element 1

> Check Again

There should be one less error on the list. Continue fixing all the elements one by one.

NOTE: there may be times when there is only one element flagged and taking the above steps to fix the error results in one or more new elements flagged. This is because fixing the first element might result in additional nesting errors. To fix, follow the same steps until there are no more nesting errors.

Decorative content includes images that do not add meaningful content or appear as a background. This can include things like borders, line spaces, or images that are just there to add a visual break to the text. All decorative content must be tagged as an artifact.

To tag a decorative image as an artifact:

> Reading Order Tool

> Show Reading Order Panel

> Item number of the content to artifact within the document itself

> Background/ Artifact

Check the Tag Tree. If the item was successfully set to artifact it will have disappeared from the Tag Tree.

It is possible to right-click a tag in the Tag Tree and select "Set to artifact" however this only removes the content box, the main tag remains (e.g. <P> would remain in the Tag Tree with nothing attached to it). There are rare instances where you may want to keep the tag, however generally speaking, using the Reading Order Tool is highly encouraged.

Best Practice Tip:

The goal is to create equivalent experiences for all users. With that in mind carefully consider the use of decorative images.

Special Note About Images:

When images have captions that fully captures all image content, you can artifact the image.

The Tag Tree needs to follow the logical order of the document. To determine if the Tag Tree follows a logical reading order, open the Tag Tree and select the first tag. The corresponding parts of the document will be enclosed in a blue box. Tab through the Tag Tree using your keyboard or mouse and watch the document. The information enclosed in the blue box should cycle through the document in the order it was intended to be read.