5. Heading

5.2. First heading

The first heading has the style "Title" or "Heading 1".

What is meant by this?

The first heading in a Word document is usually the "title" of the document and should be formatted as such or as "Heading 1". This formatting signals the start of the document and is the highest hierarchical level that can be followed by further headings.

A style in Word is a predefined formatting that can be applied to text to change its appearance. When the "Title" or "Heading 1" style is applied to text, Word automatically changes the appearance of the text to identify it as a heading. As a rule, the text is printed larger and in bold to make it stand out from the rest of the text. This allows readers, screen readers and speech output devices to quickly identify and distinguish the headings and subheadings in the document. However, style sheets can also be customised.

Why is it important?

If the first heading in a Word document is not formatted correctly, this can lead to various barriers, especially for recipients with impairments who rely on screen readers and speech output. Correct formatting with the "Title" or "Heading 1" style allows the screen reader to recognise where the document starts date and what the topic of the document is. This allows readers to decide whether the text is relevant to them or not.

How can I implement/check it?

  1. Select the text that you want to use as the first heading in the document.
  2. Select the "Start" tab or open the "Styles" menu to display the available styles.
  3. Select the "Heading 1" style to ensure that the heading starts at the highest hierarchy level and is labelled correctly.
  4. If the "Heading 1" style is not available or does not meet the requirements, you can create and customise a new style.
  5. To do this, click on the arrow next to "Styles" and select "New style...".
  6. Give the new style a meaningful name, such as "Title", and click "OK".
  7. Select the new style sheet and adjust the settings according to your requirements, e.g. font, size and colour.
  8. Use the new style to label the first heading in the document and ensure that it starts at the highest level of the hierarchy.

By following these steps, you ensure that the first heading in the document starts with level 1 and is labelled correctly.

There are different procedures for checking the style sheet for headings on Mac and Windows operating systems:

For Mac:

  1. Search for the first heading, which should start with level 1.
  2. Click with the mouse pointer on the text of the first heading to select it.
  3. Click on the "Start" tab at the top of the menu bar.
  4. Search for the "Styles" group and click on the "Styles section" button.
  5. A menu with various styles will open, including "Title", "Heading 1", "Heading 2", etc.
  6. Search for the "Heading 1" style and click on it to select it.
  7. Under "Current style", check whether the correct style has been selected.

For Windows:

  1. Click on the text of the first heading to select it.
  2. Go to the "Start" tab in the menu bar.
  3. Click on the "Styles" button, which is usually located in the "Formatting" group. Alternatively, you can also click on the arrow button pointing downwards to open the "Styles" menu.
  4. A menu opens with possible format templates, e.g. "Title", "Heading 1", "Heading 2" etc.
  5. Check which style was used for the first heading by looking at the grey frame around the text. The style should be either "Title" or "Heading 1".
  6. If the correct style is not selected, click on the appropriate style to select it.