[drupal-docs] usability of "Avoid all embedded headings"

[Charlie Lowe]

I'd like us to address the usability of forbidding all heading elements 
in handbook pages per these authoring guidelines:

http://drupal.org/node/24221

I don't disagree that longer pages which have multiple sections should 
not be broken up into multiple pages, and I understand this is desirable 
so that Drupal can automatically generate headings for printer-friendly 
output and other export of multiple handbook pages. But it's a common 
practice in web writing to use subheadings to make a single page more 
scannable. It is not always advantageous to the reader to break a text 
with multiple small subsections into multiple pages where the reader has 
to follow multiple links just to see if the text in each is applicable. 
Scanning one page can be much easier in certain instances; the 
alternative can also be too click-heavy. Sometimes, we don't want to 
push readers to follow links.

Granted, as suggested, definition lists might work in certain instances 
(however, I think the styling might require more padding for DT 
elements). But I'm not convinced it will work for all. For example, see

John Morkes and Jakob Nielsen's "Concise, SCANNABLE, and Objective:
How to Write for the Web"

http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html

This article could definitely be broken up into multiple sections on 
multiple pages. But if you look at the "Findings" section, IMHO, the 
text would be more effective with the subsections for "Findings" 
included on the "Findings" page, and DT/DL elements don't seem the 
proper way to style it.

Any thoughts on this?

Charlie