Identifying the purpose of a link in a data table using the link text combined with its enclosing table cell and associated table header cells

ID: H79

Technology: html

Type: Technique

When to Use

All technologies that contain links.

Description

The objective of this technique is to identify the purpose of a link from the link in its data table context. This context is the table cell enclosing the link and the cell's associated table header cells. The data table context provides the purpose for an otherwise unclear link when the table cell is the nearest enclosing block-level ancestor element. It lets a user distinguish this link from other links in the Web page that lead to other destinations and helps the user determine whether to follow the link. Note that simply providing the URI of the destination is not sufficiently descriptive for people with disabilities, especially those with cognitive disabilities.

Examples

A table of rental car choices

<table>
  <caption>Available rental cars with cost per day</caption>
  <tr>
    <th>Type of car</th>
    <th>Alamo</th>
    <th>Budget</th>
    <th>National</th>
    <th>Avis</th>
    <th>Hertz</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th scope="row">Economy</th>
    <td><a href="econ-ala.html">$67</a></td>
    <td><a href="econ-bud.html">$68</a></td>
    <td><a href="econ-nat.html">$72</a></td>
    <td><a href="econ-av.html">$74</a></td>
    <td><a href="econ-hz.html">$74</a></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th scope="row">Compact</th>
    <td><a href="comp-ala.html">$68</a></td>
    <td><a href="comp-bud.html">$69</a></td>
    <td><a href="comp-nat.html">$74</a></td>
    <td><a href="comp-av.html">$76</a></td>
    <td><a href="comp-hz.html">$76</a></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th scope="row">Mid-sized</th>
    <td><a href="mid-ala.html">$79</a></td>
    <td><a href="mid-bud.html">$80</a></td>
    <td><a href="mid-nat.html">$83</a></td>
    <td><a href="mid-av.html">$85</a></td>
    <td><a href="mid-hz.html">$85</a></td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th scope="row">Full-sized</th>
    <td><a href="full-ala.html">$82</a></td>
    <td><a href="full-bud.html">$83</a></td>
    <td><a href="full-nat.html">$89</a></td>
    <td><a href="full-av.html">$91</a></td>
    <td><a href="full-hz.html">$91</a></td>
  </tr>
</table>

Tests

Procedure

For each link in the content that uses this technique:

  1. Check that the link is in a table cell.
  2. Check that text of the link combined with the text of the associated table header cells describes the purpose of the link.

Expected Results

Resources