diff --git a/build/validate_format.rb b/build/validate_format.rb
index a8f10f3c..bb175ddd 100755
--- a/build/validate_format.rb
+++ b/build/validate_format.rb
@@ -25,10 +25,36 @@ def add_error(line_num, val_index, message)
     when INDEX_LINK
         segment = "Link"
     end
-
     $errors.push("(L%03d) %-14.14s #{message}" % [line_num, segment])
 end
 
+section = ''
+sections = []
+section_to_line_num = {}
+section_to_entries = Hash.new {|h,k| h[k] = Array.new }
+File.foreach(filename).with_index do | line, line_num |
+
+	if line.start_with?('###')
+		section = line.sub('###', '').lstrip.chop
+		sections.push(section)
+		section_to_line_num[section] = line_num + 1
+	end
+
+	# Skip non-markdown table lines and table schema lines
+    if !line.start_with?('|') || line.eql?("|---|---|---|---|---|\n")
+        next
+    end
+
+    # char to check is the first char in the first column
+    check_char = line.split("|")[1].strip[0]
+    section_to_entries[section].push(check_char)
+end
+sections.each do | sect |
+	if section_to_entries[sect] != section_to_entries[sect].sort
+		add_error(section_to_line_num[sect], INDEX_TITLE, "#{sect} section is not in alphabetical order")
+	end
+end
+
 File.foreach(filename).with_index do | line, line_num |
     line_num += 1