Tables versus Grids

Will Ringland <[email protected]> Wed, 24 Jun 2020 15:17:14 +0000
Newsgroups gmane.org.w3c.accessibility.general
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Hi folks,


A customer recently reported usage of a CSS Grid as a violation of WCAG 1.3=
..1: Info and Relationships.  The grid displays audit trail information for =
who accessed a record, when, and what they viewed. It is tabular in nature.=
  Their assertion is that the "grid" role is inappropriate for /read-only t=
abular data/ and only a semantic table is appropriate.



My question for the list:

Is it a violation of 1.3.1 to use a grid (role=3Dgrid) instead of a table t=
o display tabular data?



Additional information:

The currently-used grid semantics align with this spec in the ARIA authorin=
g guidelines and displays read-only data.

Table specs: https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.1/#table

Grid specs: https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.1/#grid



Personal speculation on my part:

This usage fails for things like technique H51, link below, but there's no =
similar technique for a grid element. Grids, being newer, may just not have=
 been used enough to warrant a technique?  However, according to the specs =
for Tables and Grids, either can be used to display read-only data but it's=
 not a hard requirement. In those specs, it seems the only "hard" requireme=
nt is to NOT use tables when cell elements are interactive.



H51 link: https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Techniques/html/H51.html

Will Ringland
All Epic Accessibility
Accessible design is Epic design.
He/Him


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<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Fr=
anklin Gothic Book&quot;,sans-serif">Hi folks,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Fr=
anklin Gothic Book&quot;,sans-serif"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText">A customer recently reported usage of a CSS Grid =
as a violation of WCAG 1.3.1: Info and Relationships.&nbsp; The grid displa=
ys audit trail information for who accessed a record, when, and what they v=
iewed. It is tabular in nature.&nbsp; Their
 assertion is that the &#8220;grid&#8221; role is inappropriate for /read-o=
nly tabular data/ and only a semantic table is appropriate.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText">My question for the list:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText">Is it a violation of 1.3.1 to use a grid (role=3D=
grid) instead of a table to display tabular data?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText">Additional information:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText">The currently-used grid semantics align with this=
 spec in the ARIA authoring guidelines and displays read-only data.<o:p></o=
:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText">Table specs: <a href=3D"https://www.w3.org/TR/wai=
-aria-1.1/#table">
https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.1/#table</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText">Grid specs: <a href=3D"https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-=
aria-1.1/#grid">
https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.1/#grid</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText">Personal speculation on my part:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText">This usage fails for things like technique H51, l=
ink below, but there&#8217;s no similar technique for a grid element. Grids=
, being newer, may just not have been used enough to warrant a technique?&n=
bsp; However, according to the specs for Tables
 and Grids, either can be used to display read-only data but it&#8217;s not=
 a hard requirement. In those specs, it seems the only &#8220;hard&#8221; r=
equirement is to NOT use tables when cell elements are interactive.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoPlainText">H51 link: <a href=3D"https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG2=
1/Techniques/html/H51.html">
https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Techniques/html/H51.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Fr=
anklin Gothic Book&quot;,sans-serif"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-family:&quot;Franklin Gothic Boo=
k&quot;,sans-serif;color:black">Will Ringland<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Fr=
anklin Gothic Book&quot;,sans-serif;color:black">All Epic Accessibility<o:p=
></o:p></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Fr=
anklin Gothic Book&quot;,sans-serif">Accessible<span style=3D"color:#262626=
"> design is</span></span><span style=3D"font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot=
;Calibri Light&quot;,sans-serif;color:#262626">
</span><i><span style=3D"font-size:9.0pt;font-family:&quot;Arial Black&quot=
;,sans-serif;color:#CC0000">Epic</span></i><span style=3D"font-size:10.0pt;=
font-family:&quot;Calibri Light&quot;,sans-serif;color:#262626">
</span><span style=3D"font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Franklin Gothic Bo=
ok&quot;,sans-serif;color:#262626">design.</span><span style=3D"font-size:1=
0.0pt;font-family:&quot;Calibri Light&quot;,sans-serif;color:#262626"><o:p>=
</o:p></span></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><i><span style=3D"font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot=
;Franklin Gothic Book&quot;,sans-serif">He/Him<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=3D"MsoNormal"><span style=3D"font-size:10.0pt;font-family:&quot;Fr=
anklin Gothic Book&quot;,sans-serif"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>
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