RE: WCAG-PDF technique for coding accessible complex tables?

Rabab,
Techniques are not required to meet success criteria, so the absence of a technique for complex tables in PDF only means that there isn't a technique yet.  You can make complex tables in PDF which meet WCAG success criteria using the same combination of scope and headers/id attributes that you would use for the same table in HTML.  I'll have to check that we have this on the list of needed techniques, but I should also mention that a great way to get a technique approved is to write the technique and submit it to the working group.  There is a form for this at http://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/WCAG20/TECHS-SUBMIT/.
Thanks,
AWK

Andrew Kirkpatrick
Group Product Manager, Accessibility
Adobe Systems

akirkpat@adobe.com<mailto:akirkpatrick@adobe.com>
http://twitter.com/awkawk
http://blogs.adobe.com/accessibility

From: Rabab Gomaa [mailto:Rabab.Gomaa@inspection.gc.ca]
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2013 9:54 AM
To: w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
Subject: WCAG-PDF technique for coding accessible complex tables?

Hello,

I am wondering why WCAG 2.0 - has no techniques on coding accessible complex tables in PDF?

The only techniques regarding tables are PDF 6 - table elements and PDF 20 - repairing mistagged tables.
On the other side, H43 technique and F90 failure applicability is for HTML and XHTML.

Does this mean that structuring a complex table using table, th, td elements is enough to make it accessible in PDF ?

Thank you,
Rabab