Microsoft has announced three new heading checks in Accessibility Assistant for Word for Windows. It can flag text formatted to look like a heading without a heading style, sections that may need a heading, and headings accidentally split into several paragraphs.

Using Word's built-in Heading styles gives a document structure that screen readers can use to jump between sections. Those styles also help headings appear in the Navigation Pane and a table of contents. Making a line bigger or bold does not provide that same structure.

To check a document, choose Review, then Check Accessibility, and look under Document Structure. The update is rolling out to Microsoft 365 subscribers using Word for Windows, so availability depends on your build and rollout stage. See Microsoft's November 9 announcement for the checks and requirements.