By incorporating accessibility practices in our day-to-day work, we ensure equitable access to information and services, and we can shift our culture more generally toward inclusivity. Accessibility is central to our public service mission, and we work to apply these strategies to our internal and external communications.
Each month, the OCE Accessibility for All Committee shares a helpful digital accessibility tip to apply to our day-to-day work. This month, we’re talking tables.
Tables Overview
Data tables are a great way to communicate information and relationships, but it’s important to make sure that this information is available to all users. Tables are accessible to all users when specific structural elements are included that allow assistive technology users to access and leverage this information.
Accessible Tables
Tables can be helpful for visually communicating relationships and ideas, but it’s important to understand how assistive technology navigates a table. Screen readers, for example, read data from left to right, top to bottom, and rely on a properly structured table to communicate the information contained within.
While it can be tempting to use tables for complex layouts of information, this can actually stretch the usefulness of a table, which is only meant to communicate basic data that can logically be displayed as a table.
Instead, keep your data tables as simple as possible. Always avoid split or merged cells in your table, aiming instead to include an equal number of columns in each row, and rows in each column (this is called table regularity). When possible, avoid leaving cells blank. The next section includes additional details for structuring an accessible data table.
Take Action
Use this checklist to ensure that your data can be used by everyone:
- Create a header row for your table. Do not leave any header cells blank.
- Do not split or merge cells.
- Be sure to include a descriptive title to introduce the table.
- Include a table caption to describe the purpose and contents of the data.
Resources to Take This Further
Don’t forget that when it comes to creating accessible content, the Internet has your back! There are a number of great online resources to support inclusive content creation, but here are a few in particular that can help guide your work with data tables. You’ll find step-by-step instructions, checklists, and tips for specific platforms such as LibGuides and Microsoft Word: