Web Development
Web Developer Guidelines
Visual Design Recommendations

Checkpoint 2.1 - Core

Tables use relative sizing

WCAG 1.0 Priority 2

WCAG Guideline 3. Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.

Relatively sized tables automatically resize to the width of the opened browser window and avoid the problem of the user having to scroll horizontally to read a page that has been set to a fixed width wider than the opened browser window.

Fixed width tables might also render a web page unusable when viewed on small screens, such as mobile devices and PDAs or when using a screen magnifying software. In addition, fixed width tables may be poorly displayed on large screens such as larger-sized monitors and television screens.

Requirement

Do not use absolute values for sizing of HTML tables.

Checking Tool

  • Ensure that table is resized together with the rest of the page when the browser window is resized.
  • Internet Explorer - Use AIS Toolbar to view table information.

Information Source

The original source of this information is located on the W3C web site  (www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-TECHS/#tech-relative-units)

 

Back to top