Re: PF Response: @Summary

it's not just a time saver but also cuts the cognative load.

On Jul 7, 2009, at 3:18 AM, Schnabel, Stefan wrote:

Right. Summary should be a time saver for the Blind. In my opinion,
that's its main purpose.

(Technical) writing has a principle: "Avoid the obvious". Therefore,
information that is not obvious but evident as a result of a table
scanning process should find its way into summary.

Regards
Stefan

-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-wai-pf-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-pf-request@w3.org] On
Behalf Of Janina Sajka
Sent: Montag, 6. Juli 2009 21:41
To: Joshue O Connor
Cc: Jim Jewett; Laura Carlson; Janina Sajka; Sam Ruby; Michael Cooper;
W3C WAI Protocols & Formats; Gez Lemon; wai-liaison@w3.org; John Foliot;
www-archive; HTML WG Public List
Subject: Re: PF Response: @Summary

Let me add one small, but critical bit ...

Even if all the data Josh provides below is available from the table
headers on careful examination, the act of performing that careful
examination can be very time intensive--far more so than reading the
summary information.

Janina

Joshue O'Connor writes:
> Jim Jewett wrote:
>> On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 5:25 AM, Joshue O
Connor<joshue.oconnor@cfit.ie> wrote:
>>
>>>> What information should the summary contain that should *not* be
in
>>>> the headers or the caption?
>>
>>> The @summary should provide an overview of the relationships
between
>>> headers and data cells in complex tables. This would vary on a case
by
>>> case basis.
>>
>> I feel like a fifth-grader endlessly repeating "I don't get it.",
>> which is frustrating to the teacher as well.
>>
>> But I don't get it.  Could you provide some more examples of
specific
>> tables and an appropriate summary?
>
> Ok, if you look at the following complex table at Gez Lemons site,
Juicy
> Studio. [1]
>
> For a suitable @summary overview you could say something like:
>
> <table summary="A complex table of two halves. Firstly, there are 7
> columns with the headings Child Investment, Type, Status, Allocation,
> Total Cost of Ownership, Return on Investment, Net Present Value, with
> their corresponding values in rows beneath them. The table is then
> followed by a column called Property that has two sections of
> sub-headings of Budgeted, Actual and Forecasted with their
corresponding
> running cost values for three weekly periods starting from the 12th of
> December 2005 to the 26th">.
>
> This @summary information will then help a blind screen reader user
> navigate the table as it is announced as soon as the table receives
> focus. This will help the user better understand how the various
> headings and sections relate to each other and improve the user
> experience for a user of Assistive Technology, in particular is the
> table is also marked up correctly. Please note that this table is a
real
> world example of a complex data table found in the wild. It is
therefore
> and ecologically valid example.
>
> Cheers
>
> Josh
>
>
> [1} http://juicystudio.com/wcag/tables/complexdatatable.html
>

-- 

Janina Sajka,	Phone:	+1.202.595.7777;
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Chair, Protocols & Formats
Web Accessibility Initiative	http://www.w3.org/wai/pf
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)

Received on Tuesday, 7 July 2009 11:01:25 UTC