Working with Tables

There are two basic uses for tables: layout tables and data tables.

Layout tables which are used to structure the page layout and the visual appearance of a page. Layout tables do not have logical headers that can be mapped to information within the table cells.

Data tables are used to present information in a tabular format. Table markup has several components and attributes that can be used to identify the elements in a data table such as column and row headings. When these elements are used properly, a data table can be understood by both visual and nonvisual users.

For creation of accessibility tag markup, tables authored using the Requirements Editor with the presence of the thead element are considered data tables and those without this element are layout tables.

Note: The Requirements Editor user guide contains detailed information on using Table Elements and Attributes.


Attribute	Usage
ReadOrder	The attribute is optional. It must be defined as either row by row or column by column to specify how the table will be read. If the attribute is not present, the table is read row by row. The ReadOrder attribute is honored only for Layout tables. For more information, refer to Working with Table Reading Order.
rowhead	The attribute is optional. Identifies an entry element of a data table as being a row heading. If the attribute is not present, the row heading will not be tagged as a heading table tag. For more information, refer to Identify Row Headers.
rowspan	The attribute is optional. It is defined with an integer value indicating the number of rows an entry element needs to span. For more information, refer to Working with Cells that Span Multiple Rows .
colspan	For more information, refer to Working with Cells that Span Multiple Columns.