- Success Criterion 1.3.3
- Conformance level A
Instruction Referencing a Table Column With No Real Header Name
1.3.3 — Sensory Characteristics
Scenario
Setting
A food delivery app's restaurant menu
What’s wrong
Instructions referencing visual position in a table/figure ("the third column") when the referent has no header/name.
Example
On a food delivery app's restaurant menu: instructions referencing visual position in a table/figure ("the third column") when the referent has no header/name.
Why it matters
Blind, low-vision, and color-blind people when instructions mention only appearance or sound. The practical effect on a food delivery app's restaurant menu: they can't tell how the page is organized.
How to test
Read a table/figure instruction alone (e.g., 'see the third column'): check whether that column also has a name a screen reader user could reference.
How to fix
Instructions must name the control or content in text, not only by shape, color, size, position, or sound.
Outcome
That one change on a food delivery app's restaurant menu means they understand how the page is organized, specifically for the “Instruction Referencing a Table Column With No Real Header Name” issue on a food delivery app's restaurant menu.
Who is affected
Blind, low-vision, and color-blind people when instructions mention only appearance or sound.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Instructions That Identify Something Only by Shape or Position
- Instruction Given Only Through an Icon, With No Text Meaning
- Instruction That Tells Users to Click ‘the Green Button’
- Instruction That Says ‘See the Sidebar’ With No Other Locator
- Instruction That Identifies a Button Only by Its Size
- Instruction That Relies on an Audio Cue With No Visual Backup