Document structure

The logical organization of a document into meaningful components such as headings, sections, paragraphs, lists, and tables. Proper document structure enables assistive technology users to navigate efficiently, understand relationships between content sections, and access information in a logical sequence. In accessible documents, structure is conveyed through semantic markup (HTML heading elements, PDF tags) rather than purely visual formatting. Document structure includes heading hierarchy (H1, H2, H3 nesting), list organization, table relationships, and the overall reading order. Creating proper document structure in source applications (Word, InDesign) typically produces more accessible output than remediating structure after PDF conversion.