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When is use of scope, col and/or colgroup important for accessibility?

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From: Glenda Sims
Date: Jul 23, 2012 10:15AM

Hey Gang,

I'll admit. I don't use scope or colgroup when creating accessible data
tables. If I'm in a one dimensional data table, I just use the appropriate
<th> tags to mark up all my table headers. I do the same thing if I'm in a
two dimensional data table, just use <th> to mark up headers.

When I'm in a complex data table, I still use <th> where appropriate, but
also add explicit associations for each data cell to the appropriate header
using the id and header attributes.

So, my question is...when advising people on accessible data tables, is
there ever an accessibility reason for using colgroup or rowgroup? I
understand theoretically colgroup and rowgroup add some delicious
semantics...but does any form of assistive technology use that for the
benefit of people with disabilities.

Love,
the every curious Goodwitch
(also known as Glenda Sims)

--
glenda sims | deque.com | 512.963.3773

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