ULEARN Accessibility Guide Headings May Be Missing

If appropriate, add headings to the page to organize the content for sighted and screen reader users. The headings should represent an accurate outline of the content.

User Experience

What You May Experience

You might have no trouble navigating the page visually, quickly spotting the sections you need when scanning through the content. You may rely on things like spacing, font size, or bold text to understand where one section ends and another begins.

What Students May Experience

Students using screen readers may find the page confusing or disorienting. Screen readers rely on headings to provide a structural overview of the page and to allow users to jump quickly between sections. Without headings, students may have to listen to or read through the entire page sequentially, making it difficult for them to find specific information they need to review.

Why this Matters

Headings help organize page content by providing both visual and semantic cues, creating a clear outline that allows students to understand how different sections relate to one another. They make it easier for all students to scan a page and locate relevant information when reviewing for exams or completing assignments.

For sighted students, heading levels are typically indicated through visual cues, such as font size or weight, signaling which sections are major topics and which are nested beneath them. For students using screen readers, headings are even more critical. Assistive technologies rely on heading structure to allow users to jump directly to sections like “Objectives” or “Resources” without having to navigate sequentially through all content.

How to Fix It

Fix in Canvas: To add a heading, start by identifying an existing section title or creating a new one on the page. Highlight the text, then use the Rich Content Editor (RCE) menu bar to locate the dropdown next to the font size selector. This dropdown lets you choose between Paragraph, Heading 2, Heading 3, Heading 4, or Preformatted Text. Select the heading level that reflects the structure of your content. Keep in mind that the Canvas page title is automatically assigned Heading Level 1, so the first heading within the body of the page should begin with Heading Level 2.
Fix with DesignPLUS: Place your cursor in the paragraph in the RCE that should be a heading and, in the Edit Current Element tab, make sure that "Text" is your active element. Then, scroll down to Content and check the appropriate Heading level.
Fix in UDOIT: This issue cannot be fixed from the UDOIT interface. Whenever you come across a "Headings May Be Missing" issue, select it and, below the issue description, find the link that will quickly take you to your content so you can fix it with the Canvas RCE or DesignPLUS. After you remediate the content, return to UDOIT and select Scan Now on the top right-hand side to stop the issue from surfacing.

To learn more about heading structure, review Heading Levels Have Been Skipped.

Last Updated: Oct 24, 2025, 5:10 PM

Created with DesignPLUS

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