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ARIA Data Table Warning

  • Article

Text

Table contains data but has neither summary nor a valid aria-describedby attribute.

Type

Warning

Description

This warning applies to HTML tables with more than one cell. It does not apply to tables with role="presentation" since these are considered to be layout tables.

This warning indicates that the table is identified as a data table but it doesn’t have an accessible description defined.

Note

Not all data tables are required to have an accessible description. You should define an accessible description if users need more information to understand the data table structure and content.

 

To address this warning, define a table accessible description by using the summary attribute or the aria-describedby attribute.

Example

<!-- Define a table description by using the summary attribute. -->
<table summary="The first column contains the list of examples. In the second column ...">
...
</table>

<!-- Define a table description using the aria-describedby attribute. -->
<p id="tableHeader" >The first column contains the list of examples. In the second column ...</p>
<table aria-describedby="tableHeader" >
...
</table>