Data Tables
In Chapter 4, we saw how to create accessible tables using TinyMCE; now we will look at using XStandard.
Although you can use layout tables in XStandard, I am not going to recommend that you do so; we will stick with using them only for data.
As we know, data tables are made up of cells that usually contain text or numbers, whose content is understood by referring the column and row headers.
As we also know, if screen readers are not made aware of the presence of column and row headers, they will process information in a data table as if it were in a layout table—reading from left-to-right, top-to-bottom. This is mostly with large and more complex tables.
For example, a screen reader that is unaware of the column headers in the table above will generate the following meaningless output:
Popular Summer availability Winter availability Greece Yes. Visitors are particularly drawn to sites of antiquity such as the Acropolis. Yes No Egypt Yes, an increasingly popular tourist spot,...
