Heading level is skipped

Why it matters

Headings form the outline screen reader users navigate by. Jumping from H2 straight to H4 suggests a missing section and makes the structure harder to follow.

Who it affects: Screen reader users, who jump from heading to heading to understand and skim a page, and people with cognitive disabilities who rely on clear structure.

What Lumtera flags

A heading more than one level deeper than the one before it. The post title is treated as the page's H1, as nearly every theme shows it.

Check ID heading-skipped-level — use it to filter the content report or with wp lumtera issues --rule.

How to fix it in WordPress

Choose heading levels by structure, not by size: sections of the post are H2, sub-sections inside them H3, and so on. To change how a heading looks, change its font size in the block settings instead of its level.

In the block editor, this issue has a Fix button: one click repairs the block, and Undo puts it back.

Example

<h2>Our services</h2>
<h4>Web design</h4>

<h2>Our services</h2>
<h3>Web design</h3>

How to check your fix

1. Update the post. The issue disappears from the Accessibility sidebar on the next check, and from the site report on the next scan.
2. Use a headings outline — the block editor's Document Overview (List View → Outline), or a browser extension such as HeadingsMap — and check the levels read like a table of contents.