- From: Laura Carlson <laura.carlson@gmail.com>
- Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 14:41:10 -0500
- To: www-html@w3.org, public-html@w3.org
- Cc: sailesh.panchang@deque.com
Lachlan Hunt wrote: > * What are the use cases? The headers/id technique for complex tables is used in: - Official United States Postal Service policy (AS-508-A Section 508 Technical Guidelines) are used in statements of work, vendor requirements, both internally and externally. - per Norman B. Robinson. http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/hand/as508a/508a_c6.html#508hdr39 http://www.webaim.org/discussion/mail_message.php?id=10594 - Dutch Accessibility Law (R-pd.11.5). http://webrichtlijnen.overheid.nl/besluit/tekst-besluit-en-toelichting/ English Translation via Babel: http://www.byteclub.net/wiki/Dutch_Accessibility_Law - National Science Foundation Policy and Standards manual. http://www.nsf.gov/web/guide/best_practices/access/example15.jsp - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: National Weather Service, Section 508 policy. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/sec508/htm/rule_h.htm - University of Wisconsin Accessibility policy. http://tinyurl.com/ynnnsq - California State University Policy http://tinyurl.com/2dmxad - WCAG http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20-TECHS/#H43 http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/#gl-table-markup - Section 508 http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/1194.22.htm#(g) Examples "in the wild": http://broads-authority.gov.uk/boating/navigating/tide-tables.html http://www.ge.com/en/company/news/press/1q03earnings.htm "Fidelity Investments depends heavily on complex tables for displaying product and customer account information. Portions of the web site have been using complex table markup for years to improve accessibility. Unfortunately, most of the examples I am familiar with are behind the customer password. For those with personal Fidelity accounts, look in the Accounts and Trade section...Id/headers are used in dynamic tables for grouping rows and/or columns (e.g. Large Cap Funds, International Funds, etc). Id headers are used on dynamic tables with irregular shapes, where the table provides a "total" row in a larger, more prominent font that will not fit in the regular cell. Cells are then merged in that row, breaking the standard connection to the TH for that column..." - Jeanne Spellman. http://www.webaim.org/discussion/mail_message.php?id=10610 > * What problems it solves and how? Scope attributes are used to specify table information per rows/columns. Assistive technology (AT) (e.g. screen readers) assumes that all columns/rows of headers should be announced. Currently WinEyes does not support the scope attribute. In contrast, headers/id attributes are used to specify information per cell. In complex tables where not all column headers are relevant to all cells in the column etc the headers will be announced on a per cell basis when the headers/id technique is used. In a data table accessibility test, Roger Hudson and Russ Weakley describe how "At this stage, it appears that id and headers are the most effective way to make complex data tables accessible. Although id and headers are slightly more difficult to code than scope, the apparent poor screen reader support for scope means that this is probably not an effective accessibility option." http://www.usability.com.au/resources/tables.cfm > * Who benefits and how? The vision impaired and the blind benefit because they can access information on a per cell basis. Without proper markup to associate data cells with header cells, table information is useless. Those who use screen readers listen to data, without any visual cues. When this technique is used it enables the user to determine which particular data matches with which particular headers. Example id/header markup: http://tinyurl.com/2edf3d How it sounds in a screen reader: http://tinyurl.com/yr2bsn > * The incentive that authors will have to actually use it. It provides accessibility. Incentives include: - It is good business practice. People with disabilities comprise of approximately 600 million or 10% of the world population that form a potential market which is untapped. - Access for people with disabilities to web sites is law or policy in many places. - It is socially responsible and equitable. It demonstrates that you care about providing access to information for those who would otherwise be locked out and lose their opportunity to use the web. - Many companies, organizations, and governments have train developers and designers in the technique. - Many tutorials, books, and courses are already in place. For instance: http://www.jimthatcher.com/webcourse9.htm#wc9.3 http://www.webaim.org/techniques/tables/data.php#id http://www-03.ibm.com/able/guidelines/web/webtableheaders.html#complex http://tinyurl.com/qmm8b http://tinyurl.com/2fsnkk http://www.usability.com.au/resources/tables.cfm#id http://www.ittatc.org/training/webcourse/WAWCSection9.php#WebCourse9.3 http://tinyurl.com/yozae9 http://www.ferg.org/section508/accessible_tables_recommendations.html http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/books#access http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/events - Current tools exist that help authors with this technique. These include but are not limited to: Complex Table Inspector - Gez Lemon. http://juicystudio.com/article/complextableinspector.php Table Inspector - Gez Lemon. http://juicystudio.com/article/firefox-table-inspector.php Accessible Table Builder - Ian Lloyd. http://tinyurl.com/225j3t WAVE - Temple University Institute on Disabilities and WebAIM. http://www.wave.webaim.org/index.jsp Web Developer - Chris Pederick. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60 Cynthia - HiSoftware, ICDRI and The Internet Society Disability Chapter. http://www.contentquality.com/ Functional Accessibility Evaluator - Center for Instructional Technology Accessibility. http://fae.cita.uiuc.edu/ Deque Ramp http://www.deque.com/products/ramp/index.php > * How it could be implemented. It already has been implemented via HTML 4. > * The incentive that UA vendors have to implement it. AT vendors already implement it. It provides accessibility. Again: - It is socially responsible and equitable. - It is law or policy in many places. http://www.w3.org/WAI/Policy/ http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/accessibility#law - It is good business practice. For instance as Jeanne Spellman of Fidelity Investments states, "Large financial institutions need to present complex financial data in tables. Large financial institutions that do business with the U.S. Federal government are required to provide Section 508 accessibility compliance. Many large financial institutions like Fidelity Investments and Bank of America have a commitment to providing accessibility to customers...The implementation should stay the same as HTML 4. UA vendors shouldn't take it out of their products..." http://www.webaim.org/discussion/mail_message.php?id=10610 Best Regards, Laura ___________________________________________ Laura L. Carlson Information Technology Systems and Services University of Minnesota Duluth Duluth, MN U.S.A. 55812-3009 http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/webdesign/
Received on Thursday, 17 May 2007 19:41:22 UTC