Skip to main content

PDF Accessibility — Headings Not Tagged as Heading Elements

moderatedocument scope

This PDF contains text that looks like headings — large, bold section titles — but those elements have not been tagged as heading elements in the document's tag structure. Screen reader users navigate long PDF documents by jumping between headings, the same way they navigate web pages. Without heading tags, every part of a multi-section report looks the same to a screen reader, making it impossible to quickly jump to the section the user needs.

Who Is Affected

Screen reader users who use heading navigation (pressing H in NVDA, JAWS, or VoiceOver to jump between headings) receive no navigation assistance in documents where headings are not tagged. For long government documents — annual reports, policy manuals, comprehensive plans — untagged headings force users to read every word sequentially to find the section they need.

What This Means

In PDF tag structure, heading levels are represented as <H1>, <H2>, <H3>, etc. — the same hierarchy as in HTML. When a document is auto-tagged or exported without proper heading recognition, visually prominent text that serves as a section title may be tagged as <P> (paragraph) or not tagged at all.

A well-structured PDF document should have:

  • <H1> for the main document title
  • <H2> for major sections
  • <H3> for subsections within major sections
  • Consistent nesting — no skipped levels

Fix: Document

From source files (preferred):

Ensure heading styles are applied in the source document before export:

  • Word: Use the built-in Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3 styles (not manually formatted bold text). Export to PDF with accessibility tags enabled — Word heading styles map to PDF heading tags automatically.
  • InDesign: Use paragraph styles mapped to export tags (File → Export → PDF → Tags).

In Adobe Acrobat Pro — Changing paragraph tags to heading tags:

  1. Open the Tags panel
  2. Locate <P> tags that correspond to visual headings — use "Highlight Content" (right-click → Highlight Content) to identify which text each tag corresponds to
  3. Right-click the <P> tag → Properties → change the Tag type to H1, H2, or H3 as appropriate
  4. Maintain the correct heading hierarchy — do not skip from H1 to H3

Using the Reading Order tool for bulk retagging:

  1. Tools → Accessibility → Reading Order
  2. Select the text region of a heading
  3. Click the appropriate heading level button in the Reading Order panel

Standard Reference

Primary WCAG criterion addressed:

Helpful Tools

Check if your government website has this issue

OctoComply scans your website and documents for WCAG 2.1 AA violations. The free tier covers up to 10 pages.

Run a Free Scan