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Table regularity versus empty table cell

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From: Alan Zaitchik
Date: Feb 20, 2018 8:02AM

Has anyone noticed the following? A PDF I am working on has a data table with an empty cell in column 1 row 2. (The rest of the table is regular, with appropriate column headers, no row headers, etc.) The Acrobat Accessibility Checker complains that the table fails Regularity unless I add an (empty) TD cell, so that row 2 has as many columns as the rest of the table rows do. However, if I add that empty TD then CommonLook (HHS standard) fails the table for having an empty cell! I cannot edit the PDF or the source file, e.g. to add "N/A" or its ilk to the added cell.
So which is preferable? An empty TD cell or a row with no TD cell in that column?
Does JAWS (or NVDA or ... ) actually care?
Thanks,
A