- Success Criterion 1.3.1
- Conformance level A
- W3C reference F91
Table Header Cells Never Marked Up as Real Headers
1.3.1 — Info and Relationships
Scenario
Setting
A podcast app's episode list
What’s wrong
Data table header cells are not marked up as headers — screen readers can't tell users which column/row a value belongs to.
Example
<div class="heading">Shipping Address</div>Why it matters
Screen-reader, braille, and reading-tool users who depend on coded structure rather than visual layout.
How to test
Click into each header cell in DevTools: it must be a th element (with scope for complex tables) — if it's a styled td, screen reader table navigation won't announce it as a header.
How to fix
Mark up header cells as th (with scope where needed) so data cells announce their headers.
<h2>Shipping Address</h2>A real heading element exposes the section structure to assistive tech; a styled div doesn't.
Outcome
On a podcast app's episode list, this barrier is gone for screen-reader, braille — they no longer have to work around this.
Who is affected
Screen-reader, braille, and reading-tool users who depend on coded structure rather than visual layout.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
- Technique Related technique (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Text Styled to Look Like a Heading Instead of Coded as One
- Text Columns Faked With Spaces Instead of Real Table Markup
- Table Layout Faked With Spaces Instead of Real Table Code
- Clickable Div Acting as a Link Button With No Real Role
- Structural HTML Tags Used Purely for Visual Styling
- Layout-Only Table Wrongly Coded With Real Header Cells