- From: Leif Halvard Silli <xn--mlform-iua@xn--mlform-iua.no>
- Date: Tue, 2 Mar 2010 21:41:56 +0100
- To: public-html-a11y@w3.org
QUESTION: Is it within WCAG2 to simply place the 'table summary' content (which describes the organisation/structure etc of the table) directly in a HTML4 <caption>? (I ask about the HTML4 <caption>, because it doesn't allow block elements. And that's a fact that help clearing the mind!) Background information: A) HTML4 and WCAG2 warns about duplicating the caption content in the summary. B) The justification for table summaries via @summary in HTML4 is that table captions often are authored according to the needs of the screen media. [1] I interpret this to mean that if the table summary appears as part of the <caption>, then all is fine. C) WCAG2 says that the table summary has to be possible to 'programmatically determine': ]]There may also be cases where it may be a judgment call about what information should appear in text and what would need to be directly associated, and it may be most appropriate to duplicate some information (for instance, in an HTML table, providing the summary both in the paragraph before the table and in the summary attribute of the table itself). However, wherever possible it is necessary for the information to be programmatically determined rather than providing a text description before encountering the table.[[ Suggested interpretation: "when the table summary is not part of the <caption> content, *then* it must still be programatically detectable". I suggest that this is what is meant because WCAG talks about this in a discussion about whether to place a table summary before the <table>. Hence, if the table summary appears inside the <caption>, then it already *is* possible to programmatically determine - if not possible to programmatically determine as a table summary, it is still possible to programmatically determine that it belongs to the <table> and also that it is meant to be an extension of the table's caption feature. I would like to hear if anyone of you agree or disagree. [1] http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/tables#edef-CAPTION [2] http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/NOTE-UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20-20081211/content-structure-separation-programmatic#content-structure-separation-programmatic-intent-head -- leif halvard silli
Received on Tuesday, 2 March 2010 20:42:29 UTC