Section 508, 1194.22(g)

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“Row and column headers shall be identified for data tables.”

WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint: 5.1

Explanation

In other words, associate data cells with their corresponding row and column labels clearly by using the "headers" attribute to specify a list of header cells (row and column labels) associated with the current data cell. This requires each header cell to have an "id" attribute.

Example

<table class="myTable" 
  summary="This table charts the number of
  cups of coffee consumed by each senator,  
  the type of coffee (decaf or regular),
  and whether taken with sugar.">
<caption>Cups of coffee consumed by 
 each senator</caption>
  <tr>   
  <th id="name">Name</th>
  <th id="cups">Cups</th>     
  <th id="type" abbr="Type">Type of Coffee</th>   
  <th id="sugar">Sugar?</th>
	</tr>
	<tr>  
       <td headers="name">T. Sexton</td>  
       <td headers="cups">10</td>
       <td headers="type">Espresso</td>
       <td headers="sugar">No</td>  
	</tr>
	<tr>  
       <td headers="name">J. Dinnen</td> 
       <td headers="cups">5</td>
       <td headers="type">Decaf</td>
      <td headers="sugar">Yes</td>
	</tr>
</table>
Cups of coffee consumed by each senator
Name Cups Type of Coffee Sugar?
T. Sexton 10 Espresso No
J. Dinnen 5 Decaf Yes

Reference

Core Techniques for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-HTML-TECHS/#identifying-table-rows-columns