Re: th scope attribute

Scripsit JD:

Is the <th> scope attribute needed for simple tables?

No, but it doesn't hurt, and it may be useful for markup documentation: anyone (like you some years later) reading the HTML source alone, even without understanding the natural language in it, will immediately see that the cell is a header for a column or for a row.

For example,
will the following be clear for a wide range of visitors?

<table>
<tr><th>Make</th><th>Year</th></tr>
<tr><td>Ford </td><td>1987</td></tr>
<tr><td>Audi </td><td>2000</td></tr>
</table>

Or should I do:

<table>
<tr><th scope="col">Make</th><th scope="col">Year</th></tr>
<tr><td>Ford </td><td>1987</td></tr>
<tr><td>Audi </td><td>2000</td></tr>
</table>

Adding the scope attribute isn't very important in a case like this, but it is good practice.

It is more important to consider the accessibility of the table as a whole. How does it relate to text? What does it really mean? A person using a speech browser will be in a more difficult situation, since he does not see the table as a whole or its visual association with anything.

Using <caption>, or maybe explanatory text before the table, or even both is generally useful for a data table. If you think that the meaning and purpose is self-evident from merely looking at the table, then you might consider using the summary="..." attribute to explain them to a user who cannot look at the table.

--
Jukka K. Korpela ("Yucca")
http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/

.

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