An AI draft can have plenty of headings and still be difficult to navigate. “Getting Started,” “Key Considerations,” and “Moving Forward” look orderly, but they could belong to almost any article. A reader scanning those labels cannot tell where to find a deadline, what to bring, or how to change a booking. The editing task is to make the outline describe the actual information.
This worked example uses an invented article about a community printmaking class. It complements our accessibility editing guide by concentrating on one deliverable: a useful heading outline. The class details below are sample facts for the exercise, not a real event announcement.
Write down what each section actually answers
Suppose the draft has four sections. Under “Getting Started,” it explains how to book. Under “What You Need to Know,” it lists materials included in the fee and materials attendees must bring. Under “Important Information,” it explains how to change a booking. “Final Thoughts” repeats the invitation to attend.
Before asking AI for better headings, write one sentence describing each section's job. Use the body as your evidence. If a paragraph contains no booking deadline, a heading promising “Booking deadlines and prices” would be inaccurate, however useful those details might be. Flag missing information separately instead of hiding the gap behind a confident label.
For this example, assume the checked body says that attendees book through a form, paper and ink are supplied, an apron must be brought, and booking changes are handled through the organiser's contact page. It gives no refund terms. Those limits should survive the edit.
Replace general labels with specific reader tasks
Before: “Getting Started.” After: “How to book the printmaking class.” The new heading identifies both the action and its subject. It does not promise that the booking is instant, guaranteed, or available at a particular price.
Before: “What You Need to Know.” After: “Materials provided and what to bring.” This matches the two questions already answered in the section. If the section is long enough to need subdivisions, “Materials provided” and “Bring an apron” can become its child headings. If it is only two sentences, extra headings may add clutter.
Before: “Important Information.” After: “How to request a booking change.” Avoid “Changes and refunds” because the source does not explain refunds. Also avoid “Change your booking” if the page only tells readers how to submit a request that somebody must review.
“Final Thoughts” needs a different decision. If it merely repeats the introduction, remove that repetition or retain a short closing sentence without a new section. Do not manufacture a new topic simply to keep the draft's original number of headings.
Show the relationship between sections
The finished outline could use “Your first community printmaking class” as the main heading. Its main sections would be “How to book the printmaking class,” “Materials provided and what to bring,” and “How to request a booking change.” If needed, the two materials subsections sit under the materials heading, not alongside all three main sections.
On a web page, that could mean an H1 title, H2 main sections, and H3 materials subsections. Choose heading levels for the relationship between the content, not because one default font size looks better. Adjust the design separately if the correct heading level appears too large.
W3C's headings tutorial explains that headings communicate page organisation and can support navigation through assistive technology. It recommends nesting by rank and avoiding skipped ranks where possible. Returning from a subsection to a new main section is different from skipping a level when opening a deeper subsection.
A bold sentence is not automatically a semantic heading. Apply the editor's heading styles and check the published structure. A heading rewrite alone is not a complete accessibility assessment, and this example does not establish conformance for an entire site.
Give AI the body and a constrained brief
Try this prompt: “Read these sections and propose a heading outline. For each heading, provide its level, the reader question it answers, and the exact paragraph that supports it. Use specific wording. Do not add prices, deadlines, refund rules, or guarantees. Flag a section that repeats another instead of inventing a new purpose. Keep optional subsections only where the body needs them.”
Supply approved, non-sensitive copy. Treat the model's evidence mapping as a suggestion to inspect, not proof that the mapping is correct. Read the cited paragraph yourself. If a heading sounds useful but lacks supporting content, either obtain the missing facts or narrow the heading.
The AIUndetectable humanizer can help explore natural wording for a clumsy section label or its surrounding prose. Keep the chosen hierarchy and checked facts in your brief, then verify them after editing. A detector score cannot establish that the outline represents the article correctly.
Read the outline without the paragraphs
Hide the body temporarily and read the headings in order. Could a new attendee find booking, materials, and change requests without guessing? Then restore the body and check that each section delivers what its heading promises. Finally, inspect the page's heading structure in your publishing tool or browser.
If two headings describe the same reader task, combine or distinguish their sections. Our guide to cutting repeated ideas by paragraph purpose covers that related problem. Stop when the outline gives an accurate map of the information. The goal is a reader finding the right section, not a heading that could headline any polished AI draft.