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Capitalization

Title Case

(h1 and h2 level headings automatically display in all caps). Use title case for most headings, capitalizing the first and last words of the heading and all major words in between. This includes nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives.

Exceptions for Articles and Prepositions

Articles (a, an, the) and short prepositions (e.g., in, on, at) are typically not capitalized unless they are the first or last word of the heading.

Brand and Product Names

Capitalize brand names and product names according to the brand’s or product’s preferred capitalization style. Example: “Introducing the New iPhone 13”

News, Posts, Events Articles

These categories may follow AP style formatting which entails only capitalizing the first letter of the heading unless proper nouns are included or other words that require capitalization.

Punctuation

In general, do not use colons, periods or exclamation marks in headings. Question marks are permissible when the heading is phrased as a question. Colons should only be used if the heading is phrased as an incomplete sentence.

An example of an incomplete sentence is:

  • This is an example.
  • This is an example.

Otherwise, the heading should standalone without end-punctuation.

Semantic Headings

Semantic heading structure means using headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) in a logical, hierarchical order to clearly communicate the structure of a page. The main topic should use a single H1, with related sections broken into H2s, and any subsections placed under H3s and beyond without skipping levels. This approach helps users quickly scan and understand content, supports accessibility tools like screen readers and allows search engines to better interpret the importance and relationship of information on the page. In short, semantic headings create content that is easier to read, navigate and understand for both people and technology.

Title: h1

The title of a page will always be labeled as an h1 element. There should only be one h1 element per page. Paragraph text that belongs to the page as a whole may immediately follow the h1 without a child element, but additional paragraphs of copy would be required to belong to an additional heading level beyond the h1.

Secondary Sections: h2

Any headings that fall into the body content besides the title will be labeled as h2 headings. They are considered children elements to the parent (page). Consecutive heading sections that deal with different subject matter would both be labeled as h2.

Subsets of Secondary Sections: h3

An h3 element is used when a section is added that is a subset of the h2 section. H3 is considered a child of h2, so it’s subject matter is segmented but related to its parent section.

Additional Levels: up to h6

The website supports up to semantic levels of h6, following the same parent-child relationship. Not all paragraphs are required to have a heading, but ones that do should have their relationship considered to decide what heading level should be used.

Visual Exceptions

Headings in some block styles will appear different. Semantic headings are built into blocks with the most predictable use in mind.

Visual Examples of Semantic Headings

Title (h1)

Secondary Section (h2)

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed rhoncus convallis arcu sit amet mattis. Donec lacinia libero vitae tempus lacinia. Sed aliquet nulla vel porttitor consequat. Aenean fringilla in lacus eget finibus. Nunc dolor enim, lobortis sed vestibulum in, ornare ac sem. Maecenas risus urna, porta a ornare eget, feugiat eu ante.

Secondary Section (h2)

Subset Section (h3)

Subset Section (h4)

Subset Section (h5)
Subset Section (h6)

Quisque faucibus tincidunt efficitur. Mauris vitae purus magna. Suspendisse est erat, tempor quis justo sit amet, ultrices tristique elit. Sed dictum rutrum justo, eget lobortis tellus volutpat non. Aenean quis commodo mi. Suspendisse dignissim malesuada leo, at consectetur nisl porttitor egestas. Nunc a euismod neque. Duis sagittis lorem et tristique dignissim.

 

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