Content Structure

Applying Styles to headings, subheadings, and paragraphs.

Whooo does this help?

• Sami, a student with visual impairment, benefits from well-structured content by quickly finding the information they need and understanding it without confusion.
• Carlos finds long passages to be overwhelming to read and comprehension is challenged. Paragraph structure and well-marked headings assist Carlos in comprehending the meaning and flow of the text.

The Direct Route

For example, Google Docs uses headings, subheadings, and paragraph presets to organize your document. These presets automatically generate a  table of contents which helps your students scan for information that’s important to them. If you’re in page-less mode, Google Docs will use the headings and subheadings to generate collapsable sections.  Collapsable sections allow your students to read in chunks and focus on smaller sections.

Headings/Subheadings

• In most cases in Google Docs, there are six levels of headings available (H1-H6).
• Heading and subheadings are used in sequential order of importance so don’t skip heading levels. This is essential to adaptive technology (ex: use H1 for the most important heading, H2 for sub-headings and H3 for sub sub-headings, etc.).
• Multiple subheadings of equal importance are possible (more than one H2, for example).

Paragraph

• Used for the main content or body.
• Depending on the software, the paragraph preset can be called  “normal” or “paragraph.”

Good to know:

• Beyond aesthetics, a proper content structure such as headings, subheadings, and paragraphs all help for better navigation and comprehension.
• In Google Docs, you’ll automatically generate a page outline to help students get an overview of the information. More information can be found in Video Tutorials.