Sc1 3 1 Tables Layout

Please note, this is a draft

Description

This test checks that tables used for layout purposes do not contain tabular data or markup.

Background

• G140: Separating information and structure from presentation to enable different presentations Techniques for WCAG 2.0
• H39: Using caption elements to associate data table captions with data tables Techniques for WCAG 2.0
• H51: Using table markup to present tabular information Techniques for WCAG 2.0
• H73: Using the summary attribute of the table element to give an overview of data tables Techniques for WCAG 2.0
• F46: Failure of Success Criterion 1.3.1 due to using th elements, caption elements, or non-empty summary attributes in layout tables Techniques for WCAG
• F91: Failure of Success Criterion 1.3.1 for not correctly marking up table headers Techniques for WCAG 2.0
• F92: Failure of Success Criterion 1.3.1 due to the use of role presentation on content which conveys semantic information Techniques for WCAG 2.0

Assumptions

Tables that have no tabular mark-up are interpreted by assistive technologies as layout tables. According to WCAG this includes:

• No header cells: that is th elements, or td with ARIA roles rowheader and columnheader.
• No caption element.
• No (or empty) summary attribute.
• No scope or headers attributes on table cells.
• Tables with single column or row, or tables with less than two rows containing two valid data cells are automatically marked as layout tables by assistive technologies. A cell is considered valid
  • if its size can be obtained and is between 200 and 16000 pixels, or
  • if its size can’t be obtained and it contains text (Cells only containing graphics are not considered valid).

Test properties

Test procedure

  ### Selector

Test mode: automatic

Select all tables on the page marked as presentational (using role=”presentation” on the table element.

In addition, select tables with all of the following characteristics (see conditions for layout tables listed above):

• Tables with no designated header cells (th elements or td> elements with ARIA roles rowheader and columnheader.
• No caption tag
• No (or empty) summary attribute

Step 1 - Check if actual data tables have wrongly been marked as presentational using ARIA

Test mode: automatic

for each table with role=”presentation”.

Check if table contains

• header cells
• a caption element or or summary attribute
• a cell with a scope or headers attribute

If yes,

else, continue with Step 2

step 2

Test mode: automatic

Check if any td element has a headers attribute or a scope attribute.

If yes,

else, continue with Step 3

step 3

Test mode: manual

For each remaining table that matches the selector, ask user to confirm that the table is not a data table.

User Input Question:

if yes

else