Let X be a Hausdorff space which is the continuous image of an ordered continuum. We prove that every irreducible separator of X is metrizable. This is a far reaching extension of the 1967 theorem of S. Mardešić which asserts that X has a basis of open sets with metrizable boundaries. Our first result is then used to show that, in particular, if Y is an hereditarily locally connected continuum, then for subsets of Y quasi-components coincide with components, and that the boundary of each connected open subset of Y is accessible by ordered continua. These results answer open problems in the literature due to the fourth and third authors, respectively.
