Issue
If you don’t designate the top row of your table as a header, a person using a screen reader will quickly lose all context for relationships between headers and data. The header row allows the screen reader to associate data in an individual cell with a label that gives it meaning.
What to do
Use tables for data, not layout, and create simple, non-nested tables that do not merge rows.
Designate the row/column with labels in it as a header within the content management or word processing app you’re using. Options for turning on headers varies from one environment to the next. Best practice is to include a title and a caption that succinctly describes the purpose of the table.
M&M Color analysis
| Red | Green | Blue | Orange | Yellow | Brown | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 19 | 49.79 |
| 9 | 17 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 48.98 |
| 14 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 4 | 50.40 |
| 15 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 16 | 8 | 49.16 |
| 10 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 4 | 47.61 |
Recommended tools
Who’s affected
People who:
- Use screen readers (blind, low vision)