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Re: Table Headers In Separate Table From Data

for

From: Jonathan Avila
Date: May 2, 2018 11:00AM

> I am curious if list subscribers have an idea why web developers use a design that puts the column headers of a table in a separate table. What benefits does this achieve, independent of accessibility concerns, that have caused this to start happening?

People do this so that the table body can scroll and the header can be fixed.

Jonathan

Jonathan Avila
Chief Accessibility Officer
Level Access
<EMAIL REMOVED>
703.637.8957 office

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-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of KellyFord
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2018 12:47 PM
To: 'WebAIM Discussion List'
Subject: [WebAIM] Table Headers In Separate Table From Data

Hi,



Although it doesn't happen too often, over the past couple years I have
noticed an increase in web experiences where table column headers are put in
a separate table from the data. One of the financial sites I use, that used
to be a go to for easily demonstrating how proper table headers make reading
tabular data easy with a screen reader, has now incorporated this sort of
design.



I am curious if list subscribers have an idea why web developers use a
design that puts the column headers of a table in a separate table. What
benefits does this achieve, independent of accessibility concerns, that have
caused this to start happening?



Again this is not entirely recent but several years ago I'd say I never
encountered this. Now the times I encounter it is certainly greater than 0.



Kelly