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Teaching with Technology

Information Technology

Digital accessibility: headings, lists, and other text formatting

Correctly formatted headings and lists help people using screen readers or navigating using a keyboard to understand and find their way in a document or online text. Using standard formatting for your text is helpful for students who are neurodivergent or have conditions like dyslexia.

To ensure that your content is accessible

  • Consider using headings to break a long document into sections.
  • Always use your text editor styles options to designate headings in your document. Never use text formatting (such as bold or larger text) alone.
  • Make sure that your headings appear in order, and don't skip a heading level. For example, a subsection directly under Heading 2 must be marked with Heading 3, not Heading 4.
  • Always use your text editor options to create a bulleted or numbered list. Use a numbered list only when the order of list items is important.
  • Make sure that text is left justified, that line spacing is greater than one, and that there is extra space between paragraphs. The default settings on your text editor are generally best.

Headings in Word

Note: these instructions are for Word in Mac.

To add a heading

  • Highlight the text you want to make a heading.
  • Under Styles, choose the heading level appropriate for your text.
Styles menu in Microsoft Word.

To change the appearance of headings

  • Under Styles, open the Styles Pane.
Styles pane option in the Microsoft Word Styles menu.

  • In the drops-down menu for the heading you'd like to change, select Modify Style.

Modify style option in the Heading 2 dropdown menu in the Microsoft Word Styles pane.

  • Change the font, appearance, size, etc. to fit your needs. If you choose to change the color of your heading, make sure you select a color that has sufficient contrast.
Microsoft Word modify style window.

  • Your updated heading style will be applied to all headings of that level in your document.

Lists in Word

Note: these instructions are for Word in Mac.

To add a list

  • Select Paragraph, and then choose the type of list (bulleted or numbered) you want to add.
Microsoft Word paragraph options.

  • The drop-down menu by each list type provides more options for appearance, including options suited for formal outlines under multilevel lists.
Microsoft Word list options

  • Add hierarchy to a list by further indenting items as you add them.

Headings in Google Docs

To add a heading

  • Highlight the text you want to make a heading
  • In the Styles menu, choose the heading level appropriate for your text.
Google Docs headings options.

To change the appearance of a heading

  • Format text of a heading to look the way you want. If you choose to change the color of your heading, make sure you select a color that has sufficient contrast.
  • Highlight your text.
  • In the styles menu, click the drop down arrow next to the header style you want to update.
  • Update the heading style to match. All headings of that level in your document will reflect the changes you made.
Google Docs update heading to match.

Lists in Google Docs

To add a list

  • Select the type of list you want to add--bulleted or numbered--from the toolbar. You may need to expand the toolbar to see the list options.
Google docs lists options

  • Use the drop down menus next to the list options to change the appearance of your list.
Google docs list appearance options.

  • Add hierarchy to a list by further indenting items as you add them.

Headings in Moodle

Note that headings in Moodle text areas start at the heading 3 level, since other text on the Moodle page uses the heading 1 and heading 2 levels.

To add headings to any content area

  • Highlight the text you want to make a heading
  • When you highlight the text, options will appear under your cursor allowing you to change the text style. H3 represents heading 3, etc.
Moodle headings popup.

  • Alternatively, from the text editor menu, choose format, then blocks. Choose the heading level appropriate for your text.
Moodle headings options.

Lists in Moodle

To add a list

  • Select the type of list you want to add--bulleted or numbered--from the toolbar. You will likely have to expand the toolbar to see the option to add a list.
Moodle list options.

  • Add hierarchy to a list by further indenting items as you add them.