...and even a table that is correctly marked up needs an @summary.
It's just like writing a narrative. if the author knows what te
intent of the table is, surely the author can narrate it?
On Jul 6, 2009, at 5:25 AM, Joshue O Connor wrote:
Hi Jim,
What information should the summary contain that should *not* be in
the headers or the caption?
The @summary should provide an overview of the relationships between
headers and data cells in complex tables. This would vary on a case by
case basis.
Would the @summary purpose be better fulfilled by just ensuring that
it was easy to read the headers as a sort a preview?
@summary should be used where tabular data relationships are unusual
(nested headers, data spanning multiple rows in a non uniform way etc.
[I realize that not all tables are properly marked up with <th> -- but
I'm assuming (incorrectly?) that authors who can't get that right are
unlikely to get an invisible attribute right anyhow.]
Well, it may be relatively easier to write a more verbose description
(however inaccurate) of the table than to mark it up properly (but then
again I may be too close to the issue to objectively assess if this is
the case.
My 2 Cents
HTH
Josh
