[Irl-dean] WCAG+Samurai table summary attribute

[Joshue O Connor]

Eoin Campbell wrote:
> Can you explain why you think it is wrong to make summary
> an optional attribute, Josh?

Apart from the fact that I think that every data table should have a 
suitable @summary description - I would be concerned about how this 
advice could be perceived. The use of a suitable @summary descriptor 
gives the screen reader user an easy overview of the purpose of the 
table as soon as the table receives focus.

Joe explicitly states that you must ignore the requirement to use 
@summary (Guideline 5.5). I think this is really bad advise. I 
constantly advice our clients to add a suitable @summary description to 
their data tables, primarily because they are just so useful. They 
require no user interaction beyond giving the element focus and mean 
that non visual users do not have to trawl through table(s), which may 
or may not be marked up well, just to see if the contents are of any use 
to them in the first place.

Secondly, there is a rather large "Oh Joe says this - so it must be 
true, school" who just follow what he says. So he has a position of 
authority and therefore a responsibility to give good advice. Not just 
respond with a knee jerk /anti/ reaction to every single 
idea/document/guideline that the W3C produce.

My 2 cents

Josh

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