Table Headers

Accessible table headers help people using screen readers understand what each cell in a table represents.

Understanding Tables

A table has:

• Header cells — labels that describe a column or row.
• Data cells — A single piece of information. Examples include text, a numerical value, or a mathematical formula.

For example:

Name, Department, and Extension are column headers. They tell a reader what the cells underneath mean. Rows can also have headers.

Why this matters for screen readers

By default, basic text-to-speech technology read data from left-to-right, top-to-bottom, cell-by-cell, and row-by-row. Without the header cells labeled correctly, it is read as long, continuous text without context. 

A sighted reader can look at the table and understand:

Mara works in Marketing and her extension is 123.

A screen reader without headers may read the table as:
   Row 1: Column 1, Name. Column 2, Department. Column 3, Extension.

Accessible table headers help people using screen readers understand what each cell in a table represents. This helps the reader understand the relationship between the header and the data, and its meaning clear.

Adding table headers using the Accessibility Evaluation

The Accessibility Evaluation (only available in the Book-Building Tool) can assist in correcting the headers in any tables you may have in your book.

• Click on Accessibility Evaluation on the left side of the screen. 
• Click on the button Start Evaluation.
• There is instructional information on the first pop-up. 
• Click Next to start the evaluation. 
• The first page will list all images in the Word file that you have uploaded that are missing alt text. 
• Click Next to move to the section for table headers.

There are four other sections you can proceed with that have additional recommendations for making your ebook more accessible to your current and future readers.