Re: Layout or data table?

Hi Louise,


If content is tabular data, then a TABLE should be used. Otherwise, although role="presentation" can be used, it is not ideal, indeed, it is very poor, IF you are able to work without a TABLE.


role="presentation" is helpful when a TABLE is forced on you by a publishing system that is unable to not produce a TABLE.


In this case, with pairs of data, the content could be presented as a TABLE, but also with a DL (DT, DD).


The H2 should be a CAPTION tag within the TABLE (for better semantics).


CSS should be used to choose how to present the content (of course) and so the decision about whether to use a TABLE or not is lifted above the decision about how content will be presented and rests purely on what the data is.


I hope this is helpful. I find these types of data, pairs of data, are sometimes a grey area in that they could be a TABLE *or* a DL. However often I will favour a TABLE as the CAPTION is then semantically linked to the content, rather than an H2 that just comes before the DL, implying a relationship, but inevitable a weaker one than between a CAPTION and the contents of a TABLE.


Regards,


Alan


-Alan Bristow
Web Programmer
?Elections Canada
alan.bristow@elections.ca



________________________________
From: Louise Lister <Louise.Lister@iop.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 7, 2021 9:54 AM
To: WAI Interest Group discussion list
Subject: Layout or data table?



Hello all,

I hope you can assist.

On our website we have some tables that contain information on committee member names and their roles, so for example:

Committee members

Chair

Mr A*

Treasurer

Mrs Y

Ordinary member

Mr C

Ordinary member

Mr G

Ordinary member

Ms P


In this case, the title is a h2 and each role in the left-hand cell carries the <th scope> value.  To all intents and purposes, we have treated it as a data table, but is it a layout table because the information could be presented in linear fashion another way? And if so, should it have a role="presentation" value in it?

I feel this is a bit of a grey area between the two and would appreciate your thoughts. It reads out fine in NVDA so I don't think it's an issue, but wanted to make sure we were accounting for our tables correctly!

With thanks
Louise





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