Rubriksättning

Rubriksättning is the process of creating, assigning, and formatting headings in a text to organize content and indicate its structure. The term combines rubrik, meaning heading or title, with sättning, meaning typesetting, and originates from traditional printing practices where headings were set apart from the body text.

In practice, rubriksättning involves determining the hierarchy of headings (for example rubriknivå 1, 2, 3), choosing typography and layout, and, in print, applying numbering and indentation. In modern digital texts, it often corresponds to semantic heading levels (such as H1–H6 in HTML) and the use of styles in word processors, style sheets, or content management systems. The goal is to improve readability, navigability, and accessibility.

Guidelines for rubriksättning vary by language and style guide, but common principles include maintaining consistency in how headings reflect content, avoiding overly long headings, clearly separating sections, and ensuring that headings aid search and screen reader usage.

Applications of rubriksättning include books, articles, reports, websites, educational materials, and archival catalogs. In libraries or archives, the concept also relates to indexing headings and organizing topical categories to support discovery and retrieval.

Historically, rubriksättning referred to the physical setting of headings in printed matter, where typographers arranged chapter titles and headlines above the body text. With digital publishing, the concept has broadened to include structural markup and metadata that enhance both human comprehension and machine processing.