Introduction To Tables

Tables are used to organize information make it line up in a certain way when presented on a web page. Each box inside a table is called a cell. A vertical line of cells is called a column. A horizontal line of cells is called a row.

If you use the down arrow to read down a web page, your screen reader will read a table that you encounter starting from the top left corner, moving to the right until it hits the end of a row, then going down to the left side of the next row. This is just like how you read print or braille text on a piece of paper. Try this now on the below table. This table has 12 cells. There are 3 columns and four rows.

Cell 1	Cell 2	Cell 3
Cell 4	Cell 5	Cell 6
Cell 7	Cell 8	Cell 9
Cell 10	Cell 11	Cell 12

So that works OK, but might not be the best way to navigate if you are wanting to get information out of a table. So to navigate a table, you can use control - alt with the arrow keys to move in any direction that you would like. Try this now on the table below. It is identical to the table you just saw.

Column and Row Headers

Column and row headers label what kind of data will be displayed in that column or row. If the table is designed properly, your screen reader can read them to you. The below table has column and row headers. Listen to how this changes how the screen reader reads.

Tables can also contain links, pictures, form controls, or even other tables. Check out the sample email inbox below.

Now use the information in the table below to answer the folllowing questions.