Web Accessibility Checker : Check Details

Element

table

Error Type

Known

Guidelines

BITV 1.0 (Level 2)
Level 2
5.5 Provide summaries for tables.
WCAG 1.0 (Level AAA)
Priority 3
5.5 Provide summaries for tables.
WCAG 2.0 (Level A)
1.3 Ensure that information and structure can be separated from presentation
Success Criteria 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A)
WCAG 2.0 (Level AA)
1.3 Adaptable: Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure.
Success Criteria 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A)
WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA)
1.3 Adaptable: Create content that can be presented in different ways without losing information or structure.
Success Criteria 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (A)

Requirement

All data table summaries contain text.

Error

Data table summary is empty.

Short Description

table element cannot contain an empty summary attribute if it's a data table.

How To Repair

Add text to the summary attribute on each table element.

Repair Example

<table summary="This data table shows the average temperature for each day of the week.">

Steps To Check

Procedure

1. Check all data tables in the document.
2. Note: This table has been identified as a data table because it contains th elements. If this is a layout table then remove the th elements from the table.
3. Check if each table element has a summary attribute which contains at least one printable character.

Expected Result

1. All data table summaries contain text.

Failed Result

1. Add text to the summary attribute of each data table element.

Examples

Pass Examples

Data table with a valid summary.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/xhtml; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>ATRC Testfile - Check #112-2 - Negative</title>
</head>
<body>

<table border="1" summary="This table shows the number of cups of coffee consumed by each senator, the type of coffee (decaf or regular), and whether taken with sugar.">

<tr><th>name</th><th>number of cups</th><th>type</th><th>with sugar</th></tr>
<tr><td>Adams, Willie</td><td>2</td><td>regular</td><td>sugar</td></tr>
<tr><td>Bacon, Lise</td><td>4</td><td>regular</td><td>no sugar</td></tr>
<tr><td>Chaput, Maria</td><td>1</td><td>decaf</td><td>sugar</td></tr>
<tr><td>Di Nino, Consiglio</td><td>0</td><td>not applicable</td><td>not applicable</td></tr>
<tr><td>Eggleton, Art</td><td>6</td><td>regular</td><td>no sugar</td></tr>
</table>

</body>
</html>

Fail Examples

Data table with an empty summary.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/xhtml; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>ATRC Testfile - Check #112-1 - Positive</title>
</head>
<body>

<table border="1" summary="">

<tr><th>name</th><th>number of cups</th><th>type</th><th>with sugar</th></tr>
<tr><td>Adams, Willie</td><td>2</td><td>regular</td><td>sugar</td></tr>
<tr><td>Bacon, Lise</td><td>4</td><td>regular</td><td>no sugar</td></tr>
<tr><td>Chaput, Maria</td><td>1</td><td>decaf</td><td>sugar</td></tr>
<tr><td>Di Nino, Consiglio</td><td>0</td><td>not applicable</td><td>not applicable</td></tr>
<tr><td>Eggleton, Art</td><td>6</td><td>regular</td><td>no sugar</td></tr>
</table>

</body>
</html>