Evidence review
What to inspect before changing anything
Start with the delivered website and the real user journey. Record the current state so the team can distinguish an observed problem from an assumption and compare the same surface after deployment.
- 01List headings in DOM order
- 02Find skipped levels and empty headings
- 03Compare outline changes across responsive layouts
Implementation
A practical improvement plan
Make the smallest coherent change that solves the observed problem. Keep normal code review, accessibility, security and product checks in the loop instead of optimizing for the scan alone.
- 01Use one descriptive page heading
- 02Nest sections by meaning
- 03Style headings independently from their rank
Verification
How to verify the result
Verification should test the intended outcome and the most likely regression. Use the production delivery path whenever headers, caching, rendering or third-party services affect the result.
- 01Navigate by headings with a screen reader
- 02Check server-rendered HTML
- 03Test dynamic sections after updates
Common pitfall
A shortcut to avoid
Forcing every visual title into a heading can produce an outline that is as noisy as having none.
Further reading
Primary guidance and references
These sources provide standards, security guidance or the interpretation framework used to keep this guide bounded. Product-specific implementation still requires review in the actual codebase.