Creating Accessible Tables in Canvas

This document outlines how to create a screenreader accessible table in Canvas. Your instructor may ask you to contribute to a Canvas page, or post in the discussion board. It is important to keep in mind that some of your classmates may be using a screenreader to participate in the Canvas course.

Adding Scope

The scope attributes in a table helps provide context to screen readers. A scope="col" identifies the header for all the cells in that column, and cells with a scope="row" identifies the header for all the cells in that row. To add column and row scope to a table created in the Rich Content Editor, first insert a table. 

1. To add scope for a column, select the relevant cells of the table. 
2. In the Table Menu, select Cell properties (See Figure 1).
   
   Figure 1: Cell properties option in table menu
3. Set the Cell type to Header cell (See Figure 2).
   
4. Set Scope to Column (See Figure 2).
   
   Figure 2: Setting the cell properties for a column
5. To set scope for a row, repeat steps 1-3.
6. Set Scope to Row (See Figure 3).
   Figure 3: Setting the cell properties for a row

Captions

A caption can be used to associate a short description to the table. Captions are not required, but they may be helpful in providing additional context. Captions provide more context to tables and appear in a row above your table's content. Keep captions clear and concise.

1. To add a caption to your table, select all of the cells.
2. In the Table Menu, select Table properties.
3. Select the box next to Caption (See Figure 4).
   Figure 4: Turning on captions in table properties
4. Type in the caption (See Figure 5)
   
   Figure 5: Caption in a table header row