diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e24d97de..61a7e29b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -12,6 +12,18 @@ ADR-007 and ADR-002.
 
 ### Added
 
+- **A guide's sections can be ticked off while you read it.** Only checklist
+  items were tickable, which answered "what have I done" but not the question a
+  long procedure actually raises - where was I. Somebody looks away to do the
+  thing the guide asked for and looks back at a wall of text. Every step and
+  every heading now carries a checkbox in the reader; ticking one strikes it
+  through and fades it rather than hiding it, because scanning back up the page
+  has to still show what was done. Headings count as well as steps: a guide
+  converted from an HTML article often has fifty headings and no steps at all.
+  Progress is per browser and per version, as it already was for checklists -
+  shopfloor PCs share a login, so one technician's ticks must not greet the
+  next person on that bay.
+
 - **A guest is a role now, not a switch per feature.** Whether somebody with no
   account may see something was answered one feature at a time: a
   `securesend_allow_guests` setting, an enable flag per kiosk, and very nearly a
diff --git a/docs/PROJECT-MAP.md b/docs/PROJECT-MAP.md
index 89d046ef..b1f72384 100644
--- a/docs/PROJECT-MAP.md
+++ b/docs/PROJECT-MAP.md
@@ -88,6 +88,6 @@ Manifest-less directories under `plugins/` are core frontend surface and always
 
 ## Size
 
-- test functions defined: **1413** (parametrised cases collect higher)
+- test functions defined: **1414** (parametrised cases collect higher)
 - documented API paths: **305** (`docs/openapi.json`, regenerate with `scripts/gen_openapi.py`)
 
diff --git a/plugins/guides/frontend/components/GuideBlocks.vue b/plugins/guides/frontend/components/GuideBlocks.vue
index a0ed0e9b..b446ca12 100644
--- a/plugins/guides/frontend/components/GuideBlocks.vue
+++ b/plugins/guides/frontend/components/GuideBlocks.vue
@@ -2,14 +2,36 @@
   <div class="gb-blocks" :class="{ 'gb-interactive': interactive }">
     <template v-for="(block, index) in blocks" :key="block.id || index">
 
+      <!--
+        A heading and a step can be ticked off while reading, not just a
+        checklist item. On a long procedure the question is not "what have I
+        done" so much as "where was I" - somebody looks away to do the thing
+        the guide asked for, and looks back at a wall of text. A struck-through
+        section is where they were.
+
+        Reading only: in the editor a tick would be an edit.
+      -->
       <h2 v-if="block.type === 'heading'" :id="anchorFor(block)" class="gb-heading"
-          v-html="inline(block.text)"></h2>
+          :class="{ 'gb-sectiondone': isTicked(block.id) }">
+        <input v-if="interactive" type="checkbox" class="gb-sectiontick"
+               :checked="isTicked(block.id)"
+               :aria-label="'Mark this section done'"
+               @change="toggle(block.id, $event.target.checked)">
+        <span v-html="inline(block.text)"></span>
+      </h2>
 
       <p v-else-if="block.type === 'paragraph'" class="gb-para"
          v-html="inline(block.text)"></p>
 
-      <div v-else-if="block.type === 'step'" class="gb-step">
-        <span class="gb-stepnum">Step {{ stepNumber(index) }}</span>
+      <div v-else-if="block.type === 'step'" class="gb-step"
+           :class="{ 'gb-sectiondone': isTicked(block.id) }">
+        <label class="gb-stepnum">
+          <input v-if="interactive" type="checkbox" class="gb-sectiontick"
+                 :checked="isTicked(block.id)"
+                 :aria-label="'Mark step ' + stepNumber(index) + ' done'"
+                 @change="toggle(block.id, $event.target.checked)">
+          Step {{ stepNumber(index) }}
+        </label>
         <h3 v-if="block.title" v-html="inline(block.title)"></h3>
         <div v-if="block.text" v-html="inline(block.text)"></div>
       </div>
@@ -193,6 +215,20 @@ function select (block) {
    dark mode work with no dark-mode code. */
 .gb-blocks { line-height: 1.65; }
 .gb-heading { margin: 1.6rem 0 0.6rem; font-size: 1.35rem; color: var(--text); }
+
+/* A ticked section is struck through and faded, not hidden: somebody scanning
+   back up the page has to be able to read what they already did. */
+.gb-sectiondone { text-decoration: line-through; opacity: 0.55; }
+.gb-sectiondone .gb-stepnum { text-decoration: none; }
+.gb-sectiontick {
+  /* Touch-sized: a guide is read on a shopfloor PC, often with gloves on. */
+  width: 1.1rem;
+  height: 1.1rem;
+  margin-right: 0.5rem;
+  vertical-align: middle;
+  cursor: pointer;
+}
+.gb-heading .gb-sectiontick { text-decoration: none; }
 .gb-para { margin: 0 0 0.9rem; color: var(--text); }
 
 .gb-step {
diff --git a/plugins/guides/frontend/views/GuideView.vue b/plugins/guides/frontend/views/GuideView.vue
index 8b32133a..b54626ba 100644
--- a/plugins/guides/frontend/views/GuideView.vue
+++ b/plugins/guides/frontend/views/GuideView.vue
@@ -122,10 +122,14 @@ function resetProgress () {
   saveProgress()
 }
 
+// Everything that can be ticked: checklist items, and the sections a reader
+// crosses off to keep their place - a step, or a heading on a guide that has
+// no steps at all (a converted article often has fifty headings and none).
 const totalChecks = computed(() => {
   let total = 0
   for (const block of guide.value?.blocks || []) {
     if (block.type === 'checklist') total += (block.items || []).length
+    else if (block.type === 'step' || block.type === 'heading') total += 1
   }
   return total
 })
diff --git a/plugins/guides/services/blocks.py b/plugins/guides/services/blocks.py
index 08f06c0c..bb366a33 100644
--- a/plugins/guides/services/blocks.py
+++ b/plugins/guides/services/blocks.py
@@ -124,11 +124,21 @@ def plaintext(blocks):
 
 
 def checklistitemcount(blocks):
-    """How many tickable items a guide has, for the list and the progress bar."""
+    """How many tickable things a guide has, for the card and the progress bar.
+
+    Checklist items, plus the sections a reader crosses off to keep their place:
+    a step, or a heading. A guide converted from an article often has fifty
+    headings and no steps at all, and "0 steps to tick" on a card that is
+    entirely tickable reads as a broken feature.
+    """
     total = 0
     for block in blocks or []:
-        if isinstance(block, dict) and block.get('type') == 'checklist':
+        if not isinstance(block, dict):
+            continue
+        if block.get('type') == 'checklist':
             total += len(block.get('items') or [])
+        elif block.get('type') in ('step', 'heading'):
+            total += 1
     return total
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_plugins/test_guides.py b/tests/test_plugins/test_guides.py
index 053fb822..f4eda24a 100644
--- a/tests/test_plugins/test_guides.py
+++ b/tests/test_plugins/test_guides.py
@@ -559,3 +559,20 @@ def test_renaming_a_guide_does_not_move_its_url(client, db, author):
     assert fixed.status_code == 200
     assert fixed.get_json()['data']['slug'] == slug, 'the URL must not move'
     assert fixed.get_json()['data']['title'] == 'Replacing a marker controller'
+
+def test_a_section_counts_as_something_to_tick():
+    """A reader crosses off a step or a heading to keep their place, so those
+    count towards progress too. A guide converted from an article often has
+    fifty headings and no steps at all, and "0 steps to tick" on a card that is
+    entirely tickable reads as a broken feature."""
+    from plugins.guides.services.blocks import checklistitemcount
+    blocks = [
+        _block('b1', 'heading', text='Before you start'),
+        _block('b2', 'paragraph', text='Not tickable.'),
+        _block('b3', 'step', title='Do the thing'),
+        _block('b4', 'checklist', items=[{'id': 'i1', 'text': 'One'},
+                                         {'id': 'i2', 'text': 'Two'}]),
+        _block('b5', 'code', text='echo hi'),
+    ]
+    # heading + step + two checklist items
+    assert checklistitemcount(blocks) == 4