Tables and Charts

Accessibility Guidelines for Tables and Charts

The following are some guidelines that should be validated for accessibility compliance for tables and charts of a Web site:

• Text Alternatives for Charts
• Logical Table Structure

Text Alternatives for Charts

Provide an alternative format for charts.

A summary table of data could cover the same information described in the chart.

WCAG Guidelines referenced:

• Guideline 1.1 Text Alternatives: Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language.

 

 

Logical Table Structure

Tables can be challenging to read for users and screen readers. Creating logical table structure can facilitate this.

• Tables should be used to present tabular data and not used for layout purposes.
• Use proper table heading markup for the header row.
• Keep tables simple and compact. Avoid using complex row and column spans.
• You can provide a caption as the table title.
• Use table "summary" attribute to provide a brief summary of the table.

WCAG Guidelines referenced:

• Guideline 1.1 Text Alternatives: Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language.
  
  
• Guideline 1.3 Adaptable: Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure.
  • 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence: When the sequence in which content is presented affects its meaning, a correct reading sequence can be programmatically determined. (Level A)