Require An H1 Heading

html.h1_require

Severity

low

Remediation Complexity

low

Remediation Risk

low

Remediation Effort

low

Resource

Reliability

Language

Html

Description

Flags a document whose <body> contains no top-level <h1> heading.

Rationale

Every page should expose a single, descriptive first-level heading. The <h1> names the page, anchors the heading outline that assistive technology relies on for navigation, and gives search engines the primary topic of the document. A page with no <h1> leaves screen-reader users without a landmark to orient on and weakens the page’s semantic structure.

<body>                <!-- FLAW — no h1 heading in the document -->
  <p>Welcome</p>
</body>

<body>                <!-- OK — document has an h1 heading -->
  <h1>Welcome</h1>
</body>

Remediation

Add a single, descriptive <h1> heading that names the page, placed near the start of the main content.

References

W3C WAI — Headings