Section 508, 1194.22(h)

Skip Quick Links

“Markup shall be used to associate data cells and header cells for data tables that have two or more logical levels of row or column headers.”

WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint: 5.2

Explanation

In other words, mark up data and header cells if there is more than one row or column header using the "axis" attribute to place cells into conceptual categories.

Example

<table class="myTable">
 <caption>Travel Expense Report</caption>
 <tr>  
  <th></th>  
  <th id="header2" axis="expenses">Meals</th>
  <th id="header3" axis="expenses">Hotels</th>
  <th id="header4" axis="expenses">Transport</th>
  <th>Subtotals</th>
 </tr>
 <tr>  
  <th id="header6" axis="location">San Jose</th>
  <th></th><th></th><th></th><th></th>
 </tr>
 <tr>  
  <td id="header7" axis="date">25-Aug-97</td>
  <td headers="header6 header7
   header2">37.74</td>
  <td headers="header6 header7
   header3">112.00</td>
  <td headers="header6 header7
   header4">45.00</td>
  <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>  
  <td id="header8" axis="date">26-Aug-97</td>
  <td headers="header6 header8
   header2">27.28</td>
  <td headers="header6 header8
   header3">112.00</td>
  <td headers="header6 header8
   header4">45.00</td>
  <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>  
  <td>Subtotals</td>
  <td>65.02</td>
  <td>224.00</td>
  <td>90.00</td>
  <td>379.02</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>   
  <th id="header10" axis="location">Seattle</th>
  <th></th><th></th><th></th><th></th>
 </tr>
 <tr>  
  <td id="header11" axis="date">27-Aug-97</td>
  <td headers="header10 header11
   header2">96.25</td>
  <td headers="header10 header11
   header3">109.00</td>
  <td headers="header10 header11
   header4">36.00</td>
  <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>  
  <td id="header12" axis="date">28-Aug-97</td>
  <td headers="header10 header12
   header2">35.00</td>
  <td headers="header10 header12
   header3">109.00</td>
  <td headers="header10 header12
   header4">36.00</td>
  <td></td>
 </tr>
 <tr>  
  <td>Subtotals</td>
  <td>131.25</td>
  <td>218.00</td>
  <td>72.00</td>
  <td>421.25</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>   
  <th>Totals</th>
  <td>196.27</td>
  <td>442.00</td>
  <td>162.00</td>
  <td>800.27</td>
 </tr>
</table>

Note: For the sake of simplicity, not all data cells in this table have been marked up.

Travel Expense Report
Meals Hotels Transport subtotals
San Jose
25-Aug-97 37.74 112.00 45.00
26-Aug-97 27.28 112.00 45.00
subtotals 65.02 224.00 90.00 379.02
Seattle
27-Aug-97 96.25 109.00 36.00
28-Aug-97 35.00 109.00 36.00
subtotals 131.25 218.00 72.00 421.25
Totals 196.27 442.00 162.00 800.27

Reference

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