H73.3 Table Summary Notice

Weekday Timetable
Stop Name Day Service Overnight Service
Sydney Central 08:00 19:00
Canberra 12:00 23:00
Albury 15:00 02:00
Melbourne 19:00 06:00

(Table summary attributes state, "Summary of weekday Sydney-Melbourne services. Find your stop name from the first column, then read across that row to find departure times from that stop.")

Explanation

According to Success Criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships), providing a caption and/or summary can improve the usability of a table in different ways. A caption element titles the table and is seen by all users. A summary attribute (on the table element) provides additional information for users requiring assistance, who may be reading the table cell-by-cell and therefore cannot immediately grasp the concept of the table's organisation as a whole.

This example demonstrates correct usage of a summary element (and also a caption). A notice should be emitted to remind authors that the summary should serve its purpose. In this case, the ordering of the table may not be apparent - if you simply hear "Stop Name" in the top-left cell, for instance, do the stops go down the page or across it? The summary therefore provides context and instructions on how to use the table.

If the summary is omitted in a case like this, it may still pass the Success Criterion if such instructions were embedded ahead of the table in the body text, so all users can see it. If the table is difficult to understand by sighted users, instructions may be better placed in body text so no-one is disadvantaged.

Expected Notices

Relevant Success Criteria

Relevant Techniques