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

for

From: Don Mauck
Date: Aug 16, 2021 12:48PM

I'm curious what Browser you used. Is it possible that the Browsers have changed how they react?

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > On Behalf Of Steve Green
Sent: Monday, August 16, 2021 12:37 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: [External] : Re: [WebAIM] thead th and scope="col" and "row"

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
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