{"id":906,"date":"2022-05-20T13:57:01","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T13:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/?page_id=906"},"modified":"2025-05-12T16:45:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T16:45:39","slug":"paragraphs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/paragraphs\/","title":{"rendered":"Paragraphs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Paragraphs are the most commonly used units of discourse. While they are important, they are also the most commonly misused to emulate other units, like&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/standards\/headings.html\">headings<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/standards\/lists.html\">lists<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/standards\/tables.html\">tables<\/a>. Where word processor functionality is possible (e.g. WYSIWYG editor), you should use lists (ordered\/numeric or unordered\/bulleted) for simple lists of ideas and tables for tabular data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Proper Semantic Usage<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A paragraph should be a complete set of thoughts. It should not start with ellipses (\u2026), essentially an incomplete sentence. A heading should not be a lead into the paragraph to complete a thought.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/webaim.org\/techniques\/semanticstructure\/#correctly\">Never bold (the &lt;strong>\u00a0HTML tag) or italicize (the &lt;em>\u00a0HTML tag) an entire paragraph.<\/a>\u00a0If a paragraph was bolded or italicized previously (in a document before adding to a website), remove the styling, bolding and\/or italicizing, and refer to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/standards\/headings.html\">proper semantic usage of headings<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Where word processor functionality is possible, never use spacing to format any alignment issues or special characters (e.g. *, !, -, +, #, ^)\u00a0to lay out content.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Where word processor functionality is possible, never use special characters (e.g. *, !, -, +, #, ^) to emphasize the importance of something.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do use\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/standards\/headings.html\">heading levels<\/a>\u00a0where appropriate (introducing a subject\/topic).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use only one (1) space at the end of a sentence before starting a new sentence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do use bold (the &lt;strong>\u00a0HTML tag) or italics (the &lt;em>\u00a0HTML tag) on important phrases.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When needed,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/owl.english.purdue.edu\/engagement\/2\/1\/44\/\">use a colon (:) to introduce a list<\/a>, not a hyphen (-) or\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/owl.english.purdue.edu\/owl\/resource\/607\/01\/\">a comma (,)<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use a colon to introduce a fact or important information (e.g. &#8220;Note:&#8221;, &#8220;Example:&#8221;), but do not use them at the end of a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/standards\/headings.html\">heading (Heading 1 &#8211; 6)<\/a>\u00a0as the format itself introduces information by default.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Guides and How-To&#8217;s<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/webstandards.hhs.gov\/guidelines\/\">Usability.gov&#8217;s Web Standards and Usability Guidelines<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Chapter 3: Accessibility<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chapter 9: Headings, Titles, and Labels<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chapter 11: Text Appearance<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chapter 12: Lists<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chapter 15: Writing Web Content<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chapter 16: Content Organization<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tutorials\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/WAI\/tutorials\/page-structure\/headings\/\">Headings<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/WAI\/tutorials\/page-structure\/content\/\">Content Structure<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Designing and Developing\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/WAI\/tips\/writing\/#use-headings-to-convey-meaning-and-structure\">Use headings to convey meaning and structure<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/WAI\/tips\/writing\/#make-link-text-meaningful\">Make link text meaningful<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/WAI\/tips\/writing\/#provide-clear-instructions\">Provide clear instructions<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/WAI\/tips\/writing\/#keep-content-clear-and-concise\">Keep content clear and concise<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/WAI\/tips\/designing\/#provide-clear-and-consistent-navigation-options\">Provide clear and consistent navigation options<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/WAI\/tips\/designing\/#create-designs-for-different-viewport-sizes\">Create designs for different viewport sizes<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.w3.org\/WAI\/tips\/developing\/#use-mark-up-to-convey-meaning-and-structure\">Use mark-up to convey meaning and structure<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Web\u00a0AIM\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/webaim.org\/techniques\/semanticstructure\/\">Semantic Structure<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/webaim.org\/techniques\/screenreader\/\">Designing for Screen Reader Compatibility<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Guidelines<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/WAI\/WCAG20\/quickref\/#content-structure-separation\"><abbr title=\"Web Content Accessibility Guidelines\">WCAG<\/abbr>\u00a02.0 Guideline 1.3 &#8211; Adaptable<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20\/content-structure-separation.html\">Understanding\u00a0<abbr title=\"Web Content Accessibility Guidelines\">WCAG<\/abbr>\u00a02.0 Guideline 1.3<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20\/content-structure-separation-programmatic.html\">1.3.1 Info and Relationships Level A<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20\/content-structure-separation-sequence.html\">1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence Level A<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/WCAG20-TECHS\/G115.html\">Techniques for\u00a0<abbr title=\"Web Content Accessibility Guidelines\">WCAG<\/abbr>\u00a02.0 G115: Using semantic elements to mark up structure<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/WCAG20-TECHS\/H39.html\">H39: Using caption elements to associate data table captions with data tables<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/WCAG20-TECHS\/H42.html\">H42: Using h1-h6 to identify headings<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/WCAG20-TECHS\/H48.html\">H48: Using ol, ul and dl for lists or groups of links<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/WCAG20-TECHS\/H49.html\">H49: Using semantic markup to mark emphasized or special text<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/WCAG20-TECHS\/H51.html\">H51: Using table markup to present tabular information<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Simulations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>LevelAccess\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=6dFakpCp7S8\">Simulation: Readability<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KmDGvquzn2k\">User Simulation: Carly&#8217;s Caf\u00e9 &#8211; Experience Autism Through Carly&#8217;s Eyes<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ycCN3qTYVyo\">The National Autistic Society Simulation: Autism and sensory sensitivity<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paragraphs are the most commonly used units of discourse. While they are important, they are also the most commonly misused to emulate other units, like&nbsp;headings,&nbsp;lists&nbsp;and&nbsp;tables. Where word processor functionality is &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":580,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-fullwidth.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-906","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/author\/keegan-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/","display_name":"keegan"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 4 years ago","modified":"Updated 11 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on May 20, 2022","modified":"Updated on May 12, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on May 20, 2022 1:57 pm","modified":"Updated on May 12, 2025 4:45 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","featured_img":false,"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1531,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/906\/revisions\/1531"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/accessibility\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}