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Re: Table Header/Footer/Body Placement and Reading Order

for

From: Angela French
Date: Sep 22, 2011 11:51AM

Thank you.

>-----Original Message-----
>From: <EMAIL REMOVED> [mailto:webaim-forum-
> <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Vincent Young
>Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 10:37 AM
>To: WebAIM Discussion List
>Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Table Header/Footer/Body Placement and Reading
>Order
>
>> Steve - We happen to be discussing <thead>, etc. where I work in terms
>> of
>accessibility.
>> What happens when an AT user encounters <tfooter>?
>
>It seems that the <thead><tfoot><tbody> information can be exposed, but it
>depends on the browser and AT that will convey this information to the user.
>As Sailesh pointed out, Window-Eyes appears to be conveying this
>information, on, I'm guessing, Internet Explorer. Other AT/browser
>combinations parse the page as if these elements do not exist, so the table
>rows and cells, in code order, is what will be read. Steve could confirm.
>
>From my perspective, I think <thead><tfoot><tbody> information is
>beneficial to the user and should be exposed and at least be a configuration
>that can be turned on in AT.
>
>On Thu, Sep 22, 2011 at 9:52 AM, Angela French < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
>> Steve - We happen to be discussing <thead>, etc. where I work in terms
>> of accessibility. What happens when an AT user encounters <tfooter>?
>>
>> Angela French
>>
>>
>>
>> >I don't know of any AT that take notice of the [thead] [tfoot]
>> >[tbody] elements.
>> >
>> >I would suggest that the only thing that affects table reading order
>> >is
>> the
>> >order of rows and cells in the code.
>> >
>> >regards
>> >Stevef
>> >
>> >On 21 September 2011 19:23, Vincent Young < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>> >wrote:
>> >
>> >> So the HTML specification says construct tables in the following order:
>> >>
>> >> [thead] [tfoot] [tbody]
>> >>
>> >> I've user tested tables, but none when tfoot was involved.
>> >> Assistive tecnology tends to read tfoot before any tbody
>> >> information. Does this cause any usability issues? I've not seen
>> >> this really discussed anywhere such as on WebAim's accessible
>> >> tables article. I tend to use thead/tfoot/tbody for
>> >> semantic purposes, I guess. It's also really easy to style each
>> >> differently through CSS with these elements in place.
>> >> Thoughts/opinions/whatevers?
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> WebHipster Interactive, ltd.
>> >> Vincent Young - Principal
>> >> 33 E. Lincoln St.
>> >> Columbus, OH 43215
>> >> p: 614.607.3400
>> >> f: 339-674-3400
>> >> e: <EMAIL REMOVED>
>> >> w: http://www.webhipster.com
>> >>