whatwg/html#5033 proposed to add a new attribute (now called headingoffset) which can offset a containers exposing heading level by a given amount, for example <div headingoffset=1><h1></h1></div> renders a heading with a level 2 (1+1 = 2) in the accessibility tree.

This begs the question if it's possible to somehow correctly style elements according to their computed offset. Given headingoffset is accumulative (it does a flat tree walk) it can be quite difficult to appropriately select for such combinations.

So, here I am, proposing a pseudo selector to allow for selecting the computed heading level. I propose :heading(n) as a selector for heading elements exposes as level n. An <h1> (with no headingoffset parents) would then be selectable as either :heading(1) or h1, but for example <div headingoffset=1><div headingoffset=2><h1></h1></div></div> would be selectable as :heading(4) (1+2+1 = 4).

I want to stress that I am of the opinion that aria-level or role=heading should not impact :heading(); they are readily selectable today and I don't think aria should have that dramatic an impact on other selectors.

I think it would be really helpful for us to consider adjusting the UA stylesheets such that the existing for styles like h1{} are extended to h1, :heading(1){}. I know this looks scarily like the old document outline but as headingoffset is both explicit and opt in, I'm confident this doesn't introduce the same issus as document outlines.

Thoughts?