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Number of posts in this thread: 4 (In chronological order)

From: Chun Wei Ho
Date: Tue, Jan 22 2008 7:00PM
Subject: JAWS Screen Reader and detection of tables as layout or data
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Hi,

I'm in the process of making a web application web accessible. We have
a number of table layout based pages that need translating to either
CSS, or modified in a way that JAWS and other screen readers will
detect them as layout pages.

I'm working with JAWS 9.0 for Windows, and I'm rather confused as to
how it detects whether a table is layout (which means it ignores the
table) or data (which means it reads table with X rows and Y columns).
It does detect most of them correctly but there are some layout tables
that I cannot get it to detect as layout no matter what modifications
I make.

Is there a checklist of triggers or rule of thumb that I can follow?

Thanks a lot :)
CW

From: James Nurthen
Date: Tue, Jan 22 2008 10:20PM
Subject: Re: JAWS Screen Reader and detection of tables as layout or data
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As from JAWS 8 you can use the JAWS expando datatable=1 to specify that this
is a data table, and datatable=0 to ensure the table is treated as a layout
table.If you don't use this JAWS will guess based on, amongst other things,
the presence of TH elements and the number of rows and columns in the table.
I have never seen published the exact algorithm that JAWS uses to decide
whether it is a data or layout table.

(As I'm sure someone will point out - of course the ideal is not to use
layout tables)

Regards,
James

On Jan 22, 2008 5:59 PM, Chun Wei Ho < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm in the process of making a web application web accessible. We have
> a number of table layout based pages that need translating to either
> CSS, or modified in a way that JAWS and other screen readers will
> detect them as layout pages.
>
> I'm working with JAWS 9.0 for Windows, and I'm rather confused as to
> how it detects whether a table is layout (which means it ignores the
> table) or data (which means it reads table with X rows and Y columns).
> It does detect most of them correctly but there are some layout tables
> that I cannot get it to detect as layout no matter what modifications
> I make.
>
> Is there a checklist of triggers or rule of thumb that I can follow?
>
> Thanks a lot :)
> CW
>

From: Jennifer Sutton
Date: Wed, Jan 23 2008 8:40AM
Subject: Re: JAWS Screen Reader and detection of tables as layout or data
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Hi:

At the risk of pointing out the obvious:

1. Designing for screen-reader specific capabilities is not advisable

and

2. I wouldn't bank on the idea that very many JFW users will have an
idea of how to do this. If you had a hard time figuring it out, most
users will, too, if they even bother to try.

Shall I emphasize how much layout tables, with summaries that inform
me that they ARE layout tables, annoy me? Why, as a general user,
would I care, much less even know, what a layout table is?

I do certainly care about what a data table is, and summaries that
orient me, in advance, are handy, indeed.

Hopefully . . . uh, you can avoid using layout tables.

Best,
Jennifer

From: Joshue O Connor
Date: Wed, Jan 23 2008 9:10AM
Subject: Re: JAWS Screen Reader and detection of tables as layout or data
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All good stuff from Jennifer :-)

I would also add maybe just stick to using tried and tested methods for
simple tables like using header/id combinations, which will work on
older UAs. I recently met a community resource worker who had older
users on her books of JAWS versions 3/4.

Cheers

Josh


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