Titles

Web pages and documents should have titles that describe their function or purpose. This is used in a variety of ways, and is helpful for all users. For example:

• The title is typically the first content announced by screen readers when a new page or document is loaded.
• The title appears in the title bar of the window for some software application.
• The title appears in the tab in web browsers.
• The title identifies the page or document when it is added to favorites or bookmarks.
• The title identifies the page in search results.

Given its importance, content authors should assign titles to their web pages or documents that are meaningful and easy to read, given all of the above use cases. 

In HTML, the title is contained within the <title> element. This should not be confused with the main heading of the web page, which should be tagged as <h1>. The main heading is visible within the body of the web page, and the title is not. However, the title is used for other important purposes.

Techniques using HTML

A good title communicates the topic or purpose of the current page. When the page is part of a related collection of web pages (e.g., a departmental website) the page title should be combined with the site title, with the page title first. For example, the title of the current page is “Titles on Websites” and the title of the website is “Accessible Technology.” Therefore, the HTML title should be, and is, “Titles on Websites | Accessible Technology,” coded as follows:

<title>Titles on Websites | Accessible Technology</title>

Techniques using content management systems

Content management systems such as WordPress or Drupal automatically generate the <title> element from the page name. They typically follow the above best practice, and combine the page name and site name and add them to the <title> element.

Titles are typically defined in a Document Properties or similar dialog, separate from the document itself. This should not be confused with the main heading of the document, which appears within the document.

Techniques for Microsoft Office

To add a title to Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, scroll down from the File drop-down menu and select “Info,” this will display the properties window. Clicking on the title area which says "Add a title" will reveal the title field, enter a title that is meaningful and communicates the overall topic of the document.

Techniques for Google Docs

Google Docs provides the ability to add a unique title to a document. Located in the upper left corner of the window is a clickable field, if creating a new document, this field will display ‘Untitled document.’ Adding a cursor to this file will automatically add the first few lines of text from the body of the document, assigning it as the document title. To add a new title, delete the text and enter a unique title that communicates the topic of the document.