In this lesson you
- Found a grid that looked like a table but was tagged as paragraphs
- Drew it as a table, from the grid Proof detected
- Marked the header row and the header column, then applied
Transcript
A table that isn't one
Making tables readable. A table can look perfect on the page and still make no sense to someone listening. In an accessible PDF, a table carries hidden labels called tags. They tell a screen reader where each cell is, and which cells are headers. This opening-hours page has a schedule that looks like a table. But it was tagged as paragraphs. A screen reader reads it as twenty-eight short lines, one after another. Someone listening hears 9 am to 5 pm, and has to guess which clinic, and which day. Fixing a table takes two decisions. Where are its rows and columns? And which cells are headers? A header is the label a screen reader repeats as you move from cell to cell. That's what lets a listener keep their place.
Drawing the table
Tables are answered in the Pictures and tables step. Each card there is one object on the page, waiting for an answer. This card says Table tagged as paragraphs. Proof has found a grid of seven rows and four columns, with no table tags behind it. To turn it into a real table, choose Draw it as a table. Proof outlines the grid it detected, with a line for every row and column. Those lines matter, because Proof puts each piece of text in the cell its center falls in. If a line is in the wrong place, a value lands under the wrong heading. If the outline is off, drag it to move it, or drag a corner to resize it. Drag a grid line to where the table really has a boundary, and double-click a line to remove it. Here the outline already fits the table.
Header row, header column
Now tell Proof which cells are headers. Ask what each row and each column is labeled by. The first row names the clinics, so it is a header. Proof has already ticked First row is a header. The first column names the days, so it is a header too. Tick First column is a header.
Apply
With both marked, a screen reader announces each value with its labels. Tuesday, Riverside Clinic, 9 am to 5 pm. Choose Stage table. That keeps your answer on the card without changing the document yet. The step's Apply button writes everything you've staged in one go. Choose Apply. Proof builds the table in a new version of the document, and checks the document again. When the check comes back, this card is gone. No table needs authoring on this document. The reading order on the page still needs a person to confirm it. That has its own lesson, on reading order.
When the table is already tagged
Many tables arrive already tagged as a table, but with no header cells. That is the most common table problem. Their card is titled Table, and it asks how a screen reader should meet it. Author it keeps it a table. You mark the header rows and columns with the toggles on its grid. Describe it turns the table into a picture with a written description instead. Use that only for a grid that was never meant to be read cell by cell, such as a page layout, or a form drawn as a table. A screen reader reads your words, not the cells. And if Proof missed a table entirely, choose Tag a table the scan missed, and draw a box around it on the page. Now you can turn a grid into a real table, mark its headers, and tell when a description serves a reader better.
Recap
That's the end of this lesson.
Maple Ridge Community Health, its documents and its people are fictional, made for these lessons.