Table headers not found*

Error Report

No table headers found.

Why Is This Important?

Tables without properly identified header cells can be hard to interpret and navigate for students who rely on text-to-speech or screen reader Links to an external site. programs to convey visual information. When students using these programs come across tables that identify header cells and use the scope attribute (scope will be discussed on the next page) correctly, it is easier to track which row and column a given cell is describing.

This video has edited autocaptions.

Cause Of Error

To get this UDOIT result, you will need to have one or more tables in the course that did not have at least one row or column where the Cell Type under Cell Properties was changed to Header cell.

UDOIT identifies such tables because all of the cells of the first row or column do not have <th> tags in the HTML.

Examples

Incorrect Example

Name Age Major
Ricky 24 ENGR
Sue 22 BIOL

Correct Example

Name Age Major
Ricky 24 ENGR
Sue 22 BIOL

In this table, the names have been stylized to maintain their original appearance.

In the mobile app, the Hide and Show Code Links are obsolete. We couldn't hide them without removing them from the web browser view.

False Positives

If your table is meant to create a visual layout instead of organizing and conveying data, then you should ignore this result. The Header cell Cell Type should only be put on data tables.

If you know or can find someone who knows HTML, it is strongly recommended that layout tables be replaced with divs as soon as possible. Divs can be given display attributes Links to an external site. to achieve the same or similar yet improved layouts and won't be confused for data tables or flagged by UDOIT.

How To Fix It

U FIX IT! Button

Within UDOIT, if you click the U FIX IT! button, you will be provided with a drop menu where you are supposed to select whether The first row, The first column, or Both the first row and column should be turned into header cells. Use the View the source of this issue link in the UDOIT report to better determine the appropriate choice. Once you've made your choice, click the Submit button and UDOIT will apply the changes.

While we discourage the use of complex tables which have split and merged cells, if you must use them and need to identify additional header cells, please follow the directions for using the Rich Content Editor to make those adjustments.

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Last Updated January 2017.
Clemson Online