- Success Criterion 1.3.2
- Conformance level A
Heading or Sentence Split Into Disconnected Announced Fragments
1.3.2 — Meaningful Sequence
Scenario
Setting
An insurance company's claims form
What’s wrong
A single logical text unit (heading, sentence) split across sibling elements/spans so screen readers announce it in fragments.
Example
<h2>Step 2:</h2>
<h2>Upload Your Documents</h2>Why it matters
A screen reader user jumping between headings lands on "Step 2:" alone, with no idea what that step actually is until they keep reading further.
How to test
Read a heading or sentence with a screen reader: if it's split across multiple sibling elements/spans, it may be announced in disconnected fragments instead of one unit.
How to fix
Keep one logical heading as a single element; use a span inside it only for styling parts differently, never separate elements for separate visual weights.
<h2>Step 2: Upload Your Documents</h2>Outcome
A screen reader user jumping by headings now hears the complete step name in one announcement.
Who is affected
Screen reader users navigating by heading shortcuts encounter a meaningless fragment instead of one complete heading.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- CSS Layout Changes That Scramble the Screen Reader’s Reading Order
- Word Spelled Out Letter by Letter Instead of Read as a Word
- Text Columns Faked With Spaces Read Aloud Out of Order
- Layout Table That Reads in a Nonsensical Order When Linearized
- CSS Reordering That Makes Code Order Differ From Visual Order
- Multi-Column Article Whose Code Order Interleaves the Columns