Re: Table evaluation

Michael,

Nice and clear. The flowchart is great. This seems to cover all the techniques.

But will this cover tables embedded within tables? Eg. Can we assume that a table within a data table is a data table (can't be used for layout)? Or do we have to ask data/layout for all tables?

Chris

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Michael Cooper 
  To: w3c-wai-er-ig@w3.org 
  Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 1999 4:53 PM
  Subject: Table evaluation


  Hi, at our last teleconference we went in circles a bit about a desire to
  encapsulate techniques for each Checkpoint separately, and the observation
  that some things the E/R tool may discover may be relevant to how it should
  process multiple Checkpoints under Guideline 5. I thought I'd try to
  transform the ER Techniques for Guideline 5 into some other formats to see
  if it helps us to see things better.

  Attached is a .gif file "table_checks.gif" which contains a flowchart of how
  I understand the current Techniques would work, and an HTML file
  "table_checks.html" with a table that pretty much says the same thing. There
  is also a text narrative at the bottom of this message in case the other two
  formats are unusable.

  The main thing I noticed when I did this is that we need to know whether a
  table is a layout or data table in order to perform all Techniques except
  5.5.A (provide summaries). Furthermore, if it is a data table we need to
  know whether there are multiple levels of logical headers or not. Those
  decisions seem like they could be made outside of specific Techniques - at
  the cost of sacrificing encapsulation but with the benefit of making the
  fewest number of total decisions.

  Anyway, I hope this helps the discussion. Michael

  Text description (hopefully not just more confusing)
  For any TABLE:
  1. Technique 5.5.A: check for a SUMMARY attribute;
  2. Determine if this is a layout table or a data table;
  2.1 If a layout table:
  2.1.1 Technique 5.4.A: check for structural markup;
  2.1.2 Technique 5.3.A: make sure it makes sense when linearized;
  2.2 If a data table:
  2.2.1 If there are multiple levels of logical headers;
  2.2.1.1 Technique 5.2.A: check for multiple-level header markup;
  2.2.2 Otherwise:
  2.2.2.1 Technique 5.1.A: check for simple header markup;
  2.2.3 Technique 5.6.A: check for header abbreviations
  Done

  Michael Cooper
  Bobby Project Manager
  Technical Designer
  CAST, Inc.
  39 Cross St.
  Peabody, MA  01960
  Tel 978-531-8555 x265
  TTY 978-538-3110
  Fax 978-531-0192
  Email mcooper@cast.org
  http://www.cast.org/
  http://www.cast.org/bobby/