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).
    Drop down Table menu, showing options for Cell and Cell properties
    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).
    Cell properties menu, with Cell type set to header cell and scope set to column
    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).
    Cell properties menu, with Cell type set to header cell and scope set to RowFigure 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).
    Table properties menu, with the Caption option highlightedFigure 4: Turning on captions in table properties
  4. Type in the caption (See Figure 5)
    Example of a caption within a table
    Figure 5: Caption in a table header row

Modified on: Fri, Jan 5, 2024 at 2:22 PM

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