It is one of the most common compliance warnings faculty receive: "Text formatted as headings is not using heading styles." The frustrating part is that the document usually looks fine. The section titles are bold, larger, and visually obvious. So the instinctive reaction is, what do you mean these are not headings?
The answer is that bold formatting is appearance, while a heading style is structure. Assistive technology needs structure. A line of bold text may look like a heading to a human reader and still behave like ordinary paragraph text to a screen reader.
What the Problem Looks Like
Imagine a section called "Required Texts" followed by the book list for the course. Visually, the title looks like a heading because it is bold and maybe slightly larger. But if no Heading 2 style is applied, the text may not appear in Word's Navigation Pane and may not function as a navigable section for assistive technology. Once the style is applied, the exact same words suddenly become part of the document outline.
Why It Matters
Improper heading structure is a common audit finding because it directly affects navigation. A student using assistive technology may want to jump straight to grading, required texts, or attendance policies instead of listening through the file line by line. Real heading styles make that possible in a way that manual bolding never does.
How to Fix It in Word
Open the syllabus in Word and identify the text that is serving as section headers, such as Course Description, Required Texts, Grading Policy, or Schedule. Highlight one section title, open the Styles panel, and apply Heading 2. Use Heading 3 only for subsections nested under a major section. Then open the Navigation Pane and confirm that the structure appears in an outline. That is one of the fastest reality checks you can run.
Common Mistakes
One common mistake is applying bold and assuming the job is done. Another is using Heading 1 for every section, when there should usually be one Heading 1 for the document title and Heading 2 for major sections. Faculty also sometimes skip hierarchy entirely and jump from Heading 1 to Heading 3. The point is not to mimic a decoration scheme. It is to create a logical outline.
FAQ
How do I know if bold text is not a real heading?
If it does not appear in Word's Navigation Pane, it may not be functioning as a real heading.
Can I modify the look of heading styles?
Yes. You can keep the visual appearance you want while still using structural heading styles.
Do I need Heading 2 or Heading 3?
Major sections are often Heading 2. Subsections beneath them are often Heading 3.
Is this one of the most common accessibility problems?
Yes. It is routinely flagged because it is both common and consequential.
A Practical Place to Start
If your syllabus uses bold text or font size changes instead of real Word heading styles, upload it to AdaDocumentMaker and use the report to confirm which sections still need to be fixed.