WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Presenting a table without any data

for

From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Feb 21, 2017 4:17PM

Steve,

I agree with you providing a header row could be confusing, though I don't
think many users would jump into the table if they know they need to search
first. Why not met your devs half-way, and throw "no receipts have been
added" into a caption tag, which gets removed or updated as the table
populates

--
Ryan E. Benson

On Tue, Feb 21, 2017 at 5:42 PM, Meacham, Steve - FSA, Kansas City, MO <
<EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Imagine you have a dynamic web page that retrieves a list of receipts, but
> none matched the query. Or, imagine one that is a data entry page on the
> top, and at the bottom is table that displays them as they are added, but
> you start out with none.
>
> I've advised my developers that displaying only the single header row is
> inappropriate; that there are several ways this could be disorienting or
> cryptic, such as a user wondering if it is proper behavior or simply
> something that was done in such a way as to be inaccessible to them. Or,
> wondering what their path forward should be. There are more.
>
> So, I told them when there are no records to display to add a single row
> that makes that says something like "No receipts have been added" that
> spans an entire table row. It goes away once there are rows of actual data
> to display.
>
> So my question is: Am I just being overwrought? They're argument is that
> this is unnecessary "dummy text" that will confuse their users.
>
> My other question is: If I'm not out of line, then how could I justify it
> to them? They've escalated it to senior management who are now second
> guessing my guidance. They want to see something official that says they
> are supposed to do it this way.
>
> Please help...
> Steven Meacham, ICT Accessibility Program Manager
> +1 (816) 926-1942<tel:+18169261942>
> FSA Section 508 Program<https://wiki.tools.fsa.usda.gov/x/AgCoAw>
>
>
>
>
>
> This electronic message contains information generated by the USDA solely
> for the intended recipients. Any unauthorized interception of this message
> or the use or disclosure of the information it contains may violate the law
> and subject the violator to civil or criminal penalties. If you believe you
> have received this message in error, please notify the sender and delete
> the email immediately.
> > > > >