Using Built-in Styles in your Written Content helps all Readers
From the Quick Access series
April 2026 marks the federal deadline for digital accessibility under ADA Title II. At UC Davis, our commitment to accessibility will honor both the mandate and our Principles of Community as we remove barriers for all learners. Part of a series to be published during the fall of 2025, this post explores what accessibility means in practice and ways we can all contribute. Find all the posts in this series by clicking the yellow "Quick Access" label at the end of the post.
For more on campus compliance with this law, see UC Davis Digital Accessibility Program Manager Brad Starkey-Owens’ conversation on digital accessibility with Dr. Andy Jones and check the campus Accessibility site. Also consider joining the UC Accessibility Project or registering for the Universal Design for Learning Institute this fall (held each Friday this fall at 10:30AM on Zoom) for additional accessibility support.
When organizing written content, whether that be in the Canvas Rich Content Editor, a Word doc, or a Google Doc, using the built-in styles to identify types of content will make your content more accessible and comprehensible for all readers. Designating parts of your content as a main heading, a subheading, or paragraph text using the built-in styles rather than just manually making all headings bold, for example, creates a coded technical structure in your document that can be read by screen readers, allowing screen reader users to quickly navigate through your content.
First, carefully consider the structure of the content itself - what are the main ideas? What are the supporting ideas under each main idea? When this informational structure is made visible using nested headings, readers will be better able to construct a mental model of the information, which will aid with comprehension and retention.
Second, write meaningful headings - use “Stages of Osmosis,” rather than “Topic 1,” for example. Meaningful headings allow those who use screen readers, as well as those who don’t, to quickly find the information they need.
Third, when adding heading styles, always start with H1 for the title of the page or document, and proceed in order to H2, H3, etc. Don’t skip heading levels. You can always change how each style appears–adjusting font, size, or color–while keeping the underlying structure intact.
Guidance is available to help you use heading styles to improve accessibility in Word, make a title or heading in Google Docs, and use heading styles in the Canvas Rich Content Editor (scroll down to the “Change Text Style” section). Request a consultation about this or any accessibility topic by emailing [email protected].