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Heading

The Heading component maintains semantic HTML structure by automatically inferring heading levels, ensuring accessibility is preserved while simplifying development.

What Carbon provides

The Heading component automatically manages semantic heading levels (h1-h6) through Section nesting, ensuring proper document structure for assistive technologies without manual intervention.

For information on typography and visual styling, see Typography overview.

Keyboard support

The Heading component itself has no interactive keyboard behavior. Screen reader users navigate headings using:

KeyAction
H
Jump to next heading (JAWS/NVDA)
Shift + H
Jump to previous heading
1-6
Jump to specific heading level

Screen reader announcements

Screen readers announce:

  • The heading level (e.g., “Heading level 2”)
  • The heading text content
  • The semantic structure, not visual styling

Development considerations

Implementation requirements

// Required: Always wrap Heading in Section
<Section>
<Heading>Accessible heading</Heading>
</Section>
// Semantic HTML elements
<Section as="article">
<Heading>Article title</Heading>
</Section>

WCAG 2.1 compliance

The Heading component supports:

Success CriterionLevelRequirement
1.3.1 Info and RelationshipsASemantic heading structure preserved
2.4.6 Headings and LabelsAAHeadings describe topics/purposes
2.4.10 Section HeadingsAAAContent organized with headings