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RE: Using the axis attribute with tables

for

From: Jim Thatcher
Date: Jan 10, 2002 5:46PM

Leesa,

Looking at the code on your site which on quick review looked correct, I
suspect that the problem is with using the assistive technology, not the
tables. You have to do special things to get them to read tables - and the
spoken headings are the ones that change - e.g., move in from the side you
hear the column heading; move from top or bottom and hear the row heading.

HPR. Use miscellaneous settings, and check the boxes to speak row and column
headers. This is not the default behavior! (A bug in my opinion.) Then use
"table reading mode" (ALT+T) to use the arrow keys to move around the cells
of a table.

Window-Eyes. Use CTRL+SHIFT+H to cycle through heading speaking choices.
Choose Column or Row. CTRL+ALT+TAB moves to next table. Turn on table mode
with CTRL+PLUS. When in Table mode, use INS+ARROW to move around the table.
I don't know what the default setting is.

JAWS. No setting necessary. Use ALT+CTRL+ARROWS to move around the table.

[By the way, I don't remember this stuff. I have written about it a book
chapter and I go back and find it. NOBODY could remember it all! It is very
difficult for me to imagine remembering the key strokes for one screen
reader.]

Now for special markup support.

All three AT's support having the headings in the first row and first
column. That is, if you have no special markup all three will ASSUME the
headers are in row one and column one.

Otherwise:

Window Eyes, doesn't support any specialized table markup and will always
read from row one, column one
.
HPR supports headers, scope and TH. As soon as any ONE of present, HPR will
only read the headings that have been specified by the author.

JFW supports headers, TH, scope, and axis (I think) but will continue to
also read from row one and column one.

Hope that wasn't too much Leesa!!

Jim
<EMAIL REMOVED>
Accessibility Consulting
http://jimthatcher.com
512-306-0931
-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]On Behalf Of
Leesa Lavigne
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2002 4:37 PM
To: WebAIM
Subject: Using the axis attribute with tables


I posted this question on the Bobby site a couple days ago and did not
receive an answer. Any hits would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


Tables and the axis attribute
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- --
I created a tutorial to help people make their tables more accessible
after taking a course on accessibility. It is located at:
http://www.loveitsimple.com/tutorials/IntroHTML/Tables.htm
I tested the page using a reader and it did not read the associated
headers in Table#5 like I thought it would, according to the books.

Then I found this on the W3C site:
Quote:
Label table elements with the "scope", "headers", and "axis" attributes so
that future browsers and assistive technologies will be able to select data
from a table by filtering on categories.
End Quote

Guess I missed the word FUTURE. What technique is currently available in
current assistive technologies that would come close to using the axis
attribute without having to use script to detect browsers, or assistive
tech, and create or display duplicate 'accessible' pages? Thanks.