WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: 'Alternate Text' property in data tables

for

From: Jonathan Avila
Date: Jul 9, 2014 10:04AM

> Now I am confused. When in html are we supposed to use caption or
summary?

A caption element should be used whenever there is a visual caption for
the table. When a visual caption is not available one can be recommended
to assist users with disabilities but generally it would not be required
to add one.

A summary attribute should only be used when the table structure might be
confusing to users of screen readers and a summary might provide details
about how the table was structured so the user could best navigate the
table with assistive technology. Summaries are not visible and are
supplementary information.

Jonathan
SSB BART Group