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Add an accessibility bullet clarifying that the h4 in the Alert examples is not required - any heading level (h1-h6) appropriate to the page outline works with the usa-alert__heading class. Includes a component-alert changelog entry. Fixes uswds#2086.
Backfill githubPr for the semantic heading guidance entry (uswds#3246).
AKnassa
marked this pull request as ready for review
July 16, 2026 19:36
chandracarney
added
the
Affects: Accessibility 🟡
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Summary
Added accessibility guidance to the Alert component clarifying that any semantic heading level (h1–h6) can be used in an alert — not just the h4 shown in the examples.
Related issue
Closes #2086
Problem statement
The Alert examples all use an
<h4>for the alert heading, and nothing on the page said this was just an example. Implementers could reasonably conclude the h4 is required, leading them to break their page's heading order — a real accessibility problem for screen reader users who navigate by headings.Solution
Added one bullet to the Alert component's accessibility guidance, using the wording drafted in the issue: use the heading level appropriate to your page's structure; as long as the heading uses the
usa-alert__headingclass, it will look the same whether it's an h1 or an h6. Also added a changelog entry to the Alert component's "Latest updates" (dated with this change; the PR number field can be backfilled with this PR's number).Testing and review
bundle exec rspecpasses (10 examples, 0 failures).