One thing that we haven't said yet, but should: don't use tables for
layout.  Some things are tabular, and are best displayed in tables, and
for those things, tables can and should be used, but used properly.  But
many web pages use tables to place elements on the screen, and that is
bad, from an accessibility point of view.  Layout should be done with
CSS, rather than tables.

Of course, some older browsers really screw up a page that is laid out
with CSS, and that is why a lot of folks don't use it.  But newer
browsers handle CSS quite well.  And, for those who are using LYNX, the
page will linearize, and still be readable, which isn't always true of
tables.  In HTML-speak, CSS "degrades gracefully."

Denis Anson, MS, OTR
Computer Access Specialist
College Misericordia
301 Lake St.
Dallas, PA 18612
email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: 570-674-6413


> -----Original Message-----
> From: * EASI: Equal Access to Software & Information
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Patrick Burke
> Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2002 12:17 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: accessibility standards for tables on webpages
>
> At 06:54 AM 10/2/2002, Schneider, Katherine S. wrote:
>
> >Has anybody done any work on accessibility of tables on webpages, as
in
> >standards or guidelines?  I know 508 and w3c mention them, but they
don't
> >seem to provide much concrete guidance.  Kathie
>
>
> Here are two examples:
>
> The "cups of coffee" table from the WCAG Techniques document shows
some
> standard markup:
> http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-HTML-TECHS/#data-tables
>
> The "Tables Challenge" page from the "Jaws HTML Challenge" uses table
> markup to display the Jaws table navigation keys. If you display the
> source
> you'll have some markup examples to follow:
>
http://www.freedomscientific.com/hTML_challenge/files/tables_challenge.h
tm
> l
>
> The larger HTML Challenge presentation begins at:
> http://www.freedomscientific.com/HTML_challenge/html_challenge.html
>
> Interestingly, we just got a HandyTech Braille Wave display for our
lab, &
> it has row & column indicators pop up as I navigate a table (r2c7,
r3c1,
> etc., at the left side of the display. This is using Jaws 4.5. Do any
> other
> Braille displays do this? I haven't run across it before.
>
> Patrick