Creating (or Adding) Tables in Word and/or PowerPoint

Why Not Use Tables for Formatting?

The problem with using tables for formatting (layout) is that, when the PDF is created, the content in the table will be placed inside a Table tag.  This is problematic for a number of reasons. 

First, screen readers will announce the number of columns and rows in the table (incorrect structural information, based on the visual appearance of the document). 

Second, screen readers will try to read the table’s “header” cells and associate them with the “data” cells in the table.  If the “data” does not directly relate to the “headers” then incorrect associations can be made. 

Third, if the header cells are not assigned the proper “scope” (column or row) then the table does not conform to accessibility standards and will fail compliance tests.  (Interestingly, due to the limitations in Word and PowerPoint, tables in these applications cannot be 100% compliant for a number of reasons including these applications inability to assign column and row headers their proper scope and also because it's not possible to identify multiple rows of column headers.  This is one reason why creating a compliant PDF is better, from an accessibility standpoint, than simply making a Word document or PowerPoint presentation available to people.) 

Finally, accessibility standards require that the most "semantically accurate" tag is used for content in a PDF.  So, content in a PDF shouldn't be tagged as a table unless it's really a data table. 

Creating (or Inserting) Tables in Word Documents or PowerPoint Presentations

Data tables can be created in Word and PowerPoint or they can be copied and pasted from another source.  For a table to truly be a data table, two criteria must be met: 

1. The table must have column headers (if not column and row headers). 
2. The data cells must be directly related to their header cells. 

If the above criteria are not met, a table has most likely been used simply for formatting purposes. 

Making Sure the Data is Read in a Logical Sequence

When creating a data table, make sure that the tabbing order is logical and makes sense.  To check for a logical tab order, place the cursor in the first cell (in the top left corner) and then press the tab key to navigate through the table.  Make sure the information is presented in the intended sequence.  (This logical sequence will also be the order in which a screen reader presents a table to a listener.) 

Note:  When your documents include tables, that checkpoint will open in CommonLook Office.  Refer to the article on Tables in CommonLook Office for more information.