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Re: thead th and scope="col" and "row"

for

From: Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Date: Aug 16, 2021 12:46PM

<th> cells used at the edge of the table are automatically assigned
scope by the browser ("col" if they are in the top row, "row" of they
are in the first column).
I can go dig this up in the HTML5 spec for tables. There's also a
reference to this somewhere in the WCAG 1.3.1 HTML techniques for
tables.

If you add a <th> cell anywhere else in the table, not in top row or
first column, then you need to add a scope attribute.


On 8/16/21, Jonathan Avila < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> The WAI tutorials show an example of where TH can be used without scope in
> specific cases.
> https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/tables/one-header/
>
> Jonathan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Steve
> Green
> Sent: Monday, August 16, 2021 2:37 PM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] thead th and scope="col" and "row"
>
> CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not
> click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the
> content is safe.
>
>
> Yes, I recently noticed that JAWS' behaviour has changed in this respect,
> although I don't know when. This is just one example of how some screen
> readers use heuristics to provide a good user experience despite
> non-conformant coding. However, it is irrelevant in terms of WCAG
> conformance, which must be assessed by inspecting the code, not by testing
> with assistive technologies.
>
> Steve Green
> Managing Director
> Test Partners Ltd
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of
> Schulz, Leslie via WebAIM-Forum
> Sent: 16 August 2021 19:23
> To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> Cc: Schulz, Leslie < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Subject: [WebAIM] thead th and scope="col" and "row"
>
> I have always thought that a table needed th's in the top row if they are
> acting as headings.
> Then I thought scope="col" also had to be added.
>
> Just by accident I came across a table that read correctly without the
> scope.
> The header row also had <thead>.
> I played around with whether I included all th's or I included thead, and
> BOTH seemed to work.
>
> I also played around with th's in the left column. Again, I left off
> scope="row".
>
> Expected behavior is when using the table navigation keys, I move across a
> row, as I enter a column, I hear its heading.
> As I navigate down a column, I hear the row headings.
> I only put th's on a couple of the 1st column items so that I could hear the
> difference.
>
> Did something change in the way the screen readers handle this?
> I thought scope="col" and scope="row" were required if you wanted to hear
> them read.
>
> Here is some code:
> <h2>Table with THs and thead</h2>
> <table><thead><tr><th></th>
> <th>Late Submission</th><th>Late Penalty</th></tr>
> </thead><tbody>
> <tr><th>Auto Graded</th><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr>
> <tr><th>Credit / No Credit</th><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr>
> <tr><td>Manually Graded</td><td>Yes</td><td>No</td></tr>
> <tr><td>Past Due</td><td>No</td><td>No</td></tr>
> <tr><td>No Due Date</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td></tr>
> <tr><td>Non-Mindtap</td><td>No</td><td>No</td></tr>
> <tr><td>Unsupported</td><td>No</td><td>No</td></tr></tbody></table>
>
> Thanks,
> Leslie
>
>
> Leslie Schulz, MSEd, CPACC
> Web Accessibility Specialist, Learning Team Content and Learning | Higher Ed
> & Skills Quality Learning for All
> PHONE: 214.212.7379 Central Time
> EMAIL: <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> WEB: cengage.com<http://www.cengage.com/>;
>
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