- From: Roberto Scano - IWA/HWG <rscano@iwa-italy.org>
- Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2005 17:47:37 +0200
- To: "'John M Slatin'" <john_slatin@austin.utexas.edu>, "'Chris Ridpath'" <chris.ridpath@utoronto.ca>, "'WAI WCAG List'" <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
-----Original Message----- From: w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of John M Slatin Sent: Friday, August 12, 2005 4:37 PM To: Chris Ridpath; WAI WCAG List Subject: RE: [techs] Table Summary Tests (111, 112, 113, 114, 203) Thanks, Chris. Do we also have tests to determine (a) whether data tables have <caption> elements and whether the content of the <caption> is identical to the content of the summary attribute? In my personal view, there's no need for the summary to have text content if the <caption> is present and adequately describes the table (as may often happen for small, simple data tables). And if <caption> and summary are identical, people using screen readers hear the same content twice. Roberto Scano: We need to refer to the W3C Rec. Scope for <caption> element and summary attribute: caption describe the nature of the table, summary describe the table structure. 1. <caption> attribute http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/tables.html#edef-CAPTION "When present, the CAPTION element's text should describe the nature of the table. The CAPTION element is only permitted immediately after the TABLE start tag. A TABLE element may only contain one CAPTION element. Visual user agents allow sighted people to quickly grasp the structure of the table from the headings as well as the caption. A consequence of this is that captions will often be inadequate as a summary of the purpose and structure of the table from the perspective of people relying on non-visual user agents. Authors should therefore take care to provide additional information summarizing the purpose and structure of the table using the summary attribute of the TABLE element. This is especially important for tables without captions. Examples below illustrate the use of the summary attribute. Visual user agents should avoid clipping any part of the table including the caption, unless a means is provided to access all parts, e.g., by horizontal or vertical scrolling. We recommend that the caption text be wrapped to the same width as the table. (See also the section on recommended layout algorithms.)" 2. "summary" attribute http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/struct/tables.html#adef-summary "summary = text [CS] This attribute provides a summary of the table's purpose and structure for user agents rendering to non-visual media such as speech and Braille. " Hope this helps! Roberto Scano IWA/HWG
Received on Friday, 12 August 2005 15:47:52 UTC