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public:nnels:etext:tables [2023/07/27 16:02] rachel.osolen [Creating Accessible Tables] |
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- | =======Creating Accessible Tables======= | ||
- | This section will take you through the main steps for creating an accessible table. | ||
- | When tables are not accessible, the data they contain can quickly become a meaningless sea of numbers, facts and figures to someone moving through them a cell at a time. Readers who cannot see the table cannot use visual cheats like checking the alignment and scanning back to the top headings to orient themselves as they go. Equivalent information needs to be encoded into the table to facilitate comprehension. | ||
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- | Tables are meant to be used for tabular information (data). Tables should never be used to lay out documents. When editing a book, recreate charts and tables using the default functionality of the software (i.e. the '' | ||
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- | Tables have a logical reading order from left to right and top to bottom. A well structured table will allow screenreader users to easily navigate and examine data. There are specific keyboard controls for reading tables that differ to the controls for reading regular text. When non-tabular text is rendered with tables, the reading controls are incorrect. This can make it confusing and difficult to read the document with a screenreader. | ||
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- | <note important> | ||
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- | =====Insert a Table===== | ||
- | To create and accessible table: | ||
- | * Go to the '' | ||
- | * Go to '' | ||
- | * Choose the number of boxes you want across to create columns, and then choose the number of boxes you want down to create rows for your table. | ||
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- | When you add a table to your document, two new tabs appear in the ribbon: | ||
- | - Design | ||
- | - Layout | ||
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- | These are the '' | ||
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- | =====Create Header Row===== | ||
- | Table cells should be marked as table headers or header rows when they serve as labels to help interpret the other cells in the table. Correctly identified headers provide metadata that the screenreader user can call up as needed as they navigate the data points. | ||
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- | To set the Header Row: | ||
- | * Navigate to the '' | ||
- | * Select '' | ||
- | * Enter the text into the top row of the table for each column | ||
- | * Your table now has a header row! | ||
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- | Having a Header Row will make it easier to understand the information that the table contains. Some screen readers can be set up to read column names at any time, which can help when working with a large table. | ||
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- | Next, ensure '' | ||
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- | To enable '' | ||
- | * Unordered List ItemPlace the cursor in the first row of the table. | ||
- | * Right click to open the menu and select '' | ||
- | * This will open the Table Properties dialog box | ||
- | * Select the Row Tab in the Properties dialog box | ||
- | * Uncheck '' | ||
- | * Check '' | ||
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- | =====Create Table Description and Title===== | ||
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- | The last step is to enter a description and a title for the table. These should always be included to give context to a table. Descriptions should answer the question: '' | ||
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- | For example: '' | ||
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- | Remember to keep the description short and direct. A good guideline is to keep it around 140 words. | ||
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- | To add a Description and Title: | ||
- | * Select the Table | ||
- | * Right click to open the menu and select '' | ||
- | * This will open the Table Properties dialog box | ||
- | * Select the Alt-Text Tab in the Properties dialog box | ||
- | * Enter the title into the title textbox | ||
- | * Enter the description into the description textbox | ||
- | * Select Ok. | ||
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- | =====Insert Caption (if present)===== | ||
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- | Captions are provided by the publisher, and are treated the same way as we would a caption for an image with one small difference: '' | ||
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- | To Insert a Caption: | ||
- | * Select the entire table or right click near the edge table to open the menu | ||
- | * Select '' | ||
- | * In the Caption dialog box, type in a short description | ||
- | * Remove the label (i.e. Figure, Equation, Photo) by selecting '' | ||
- | * Type or copy and paste the book's caption in the caption field | ||
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- | Congratulations! You now have an accessible table! Remember, for even more accessibility, | ||
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- | =====How to Convert a Table to Normal Text===== | ||
- | If a table is used as layout, you will have to remove the table. One way to do this is to convert a table to normal text. | ||
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- | To convert a Table to Text | ||
- | * First you highlight the table | ||
- | * This will open the '' | ||
- | * Select the '' | ||
- | * On this menu select the '' | ||
- | * This will open a pop up, you then choose the paragraph break option to separate the text and hit okay. | ||
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- | <note tip>If you have any questions, check the archive below, if still not clear, post your question on the [[public: | ||
- | </ | ||
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- | =====Further Help===== | ||
- | * [[https:// | ||
- | * [[https:// | ||
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- | ===== Q&A Archive ===== | ||
- | Q: Unsure if the tables were formatted correctly in Appendix A at the end of the book 101 ways to meeting angels by Karen Paolino. | ||
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- | From the Tables section of the wiki: "A caption or description should always be included to give context to a table" | ||
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- | I am interpreting the ' | ||
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- | A: I will fix the wording in the wiki, but every table should have Alt-Text. | ||
- | When it comes to not being able to access the Alt-Text in the table priorities, it looks like this is an issue with they way the document was saved. | ||
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- | I creates a short video to illustrate what I mean: https:// | ||
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- | Word is a finicky beast! | ||
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- | Q: Follow up question regarding the song title tables in Four Boys and a Guitar: When I'm making a separate table for each song, I have been putting the song title in the spot labeled " | ||
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- | A: Yes, adding the heading and the title in the alt-text priorities works. | ||
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- | Q: I have come to the appendixes at the end of this book and there is a very long and complex table in Appendix D (starts on page 195 of the PDF, titled Mills Brothers Discography--by song title) that I could use some direction on. It's going to take a lot of time and I just want to make sure I'm tackling it the best way before I start. The issue I'm having is the subheadings for each song title. Here's a screenshot of one way I thought of to deal with them. But I'm also wondering if it would be better to create a separate table for each song. What do you think? | ||
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- | {{ : | ||
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- | A: In this case you should create separate tables for each song title. | ||
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- | Set the heading of the section as 'Mills Brothers Discography--By Song Title | ||
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- | Set each table tile as simply the song title. | ||
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- | Q: There is a table in "The Canadian Prairies" | ||
- | {{: | ||
- | {{: | ||
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- | A:You can combine it into the same table. If you follow the instructions on header rows in the wiki it will be fine: [[https:// | ||
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- | Q: I am editing a book that has very long tables that are images. | ||
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- | {{: | ||
- | {{: | ||
- | {{ : | ||
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- | A: In this case you can break the sub-sections down into their own tables with each disorder its own table. | ||
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- | **Q: In Theomatics, instead of creating tables the author has used images. | ||
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- | {{: | ||
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- | A: Images of tables need to be presented as tables, just as images of text should be presented as text. You can see how to make accessible tables here: | ||
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- | **Q: Theomatics uses tables-A LOT-but it seems like they are not necessary. It appears that tables are used for formatting spacing, as opposed to actually creating a table. For example; the Chapter headings are in tables (which I remove.) But what should I do with the other ' | ||
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- | {{: | ||
- | {{: | ||
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- | A: You've got that right - none of the tables in this book should be there (as far as I can tell). As you say, they' | ||
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- | Q: I have a question regarding tables in Satan is a Socialist. There are a few simple tables in the book formatted similar to the image of the table below. The tables usually have two rows, one header row and one with all the content. Should I be adding separate rows for each element in the list (e.g. one row for high/low government control, one row for high/low level of entitlements, | ||
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- | A: It looks like none of these are actually tables, but they used tables to create a columns for comparative lists. You can reformat them as nested lists. | ||
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- | Q: I am currently working on "The Red Road and Other Narratives of the Dakota Sioux" and in part 1 there are three lists of tribes presented in tables. The first column contains the tribes name and the second column contains the english meaning of the tribes name. Because there are no column headers, I am wondering if it would be better to reformat the information in normal style? | ||
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- | {{: | ||
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- | A: So this is an example of a publisher using a table for layout purposes. If the information is a list, then it must be reformatted as a list to be accessible. See the [[public: | ||
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- | * Title of List | ||
- | * First Language; Indigenous Name | ||
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- | Q: I'm working on People, State, and War Under the French Regime in Canada and in the appendices at the end are several images of tables that I'm transcribing into text. I have two questions about these tables (I put the question here instead of the image Q&A because I felt like it was more applicable to tables). Some of the tables have arrows connecting the data in different cells, and a Note at the end of appendix A reads " | ||
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- | Second question, in Appendix A, in the second last table the edge of the last column is cut off, so I cant read all the text. I can infer what the words are intended to be? Or I can leave as is which will mean some partial words and individual letters. How should I proceed? | ||
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- | A: It seems like the Arrows are in the '' | ||
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- | If you can with confidence fill in those missing letters and words, then go for it! | ||
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- | Q: Can we use lists within a cell in a table? For example, in "I Had the Craziest Dream," | ||
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- | A: No. Lists within tables are not accessible. Could you give me a specific example of what you are trying to reformat? | ||
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- | Q: One of the tables in "I Had the Craziest Dream" is formatted a little funky. It looks like this: | ||
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- | {{: | ||
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- | I'm hoping you can help me decide what exactly is going on in number 228. I think that it's meant to still be under the song title column? And how should I write that up so it's accessible? | ||
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- | A: Great question! There looks to be 4 columns in this table, (and the publisher used a list to also order the information fun!): | ||
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- | |-(Number, Song Title, Orchestra details)| Recorded (includes place and year)|Label|Number| | ||
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- | It seems to me the best way to do this is as follows (only write the number not list format): | ||
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- | |-| Recorded|Label|Number| | ||
- | |228." | ||
- | |issued in album They Sold...|-|-|W-1216(mono)/ | ||
- | |issued in album....|Hollywood 1961|-|W-1426(mono)/ | ||
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- | Note: I used shorthand in my example. In your version you need to type out the full titles and phrases. | ||
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- | Q: Atlantic’s Last Stop. What is the difference between the title and the caption of a table? What if the caption provided is essentially the title? (For an example, see the table in Chapter 18.) | ||
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- | A: If the caption is a title, then just repeat it in the title in the properties. All accessible tables require titles in the properties as per the wiki instructions. | ||
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- | WCAG 2.0 — H39: [[https:// | ||
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- | [[public: |