Current browsers and screen readers do not typically have the ability to use the keyboard to navigate within the table. Even if a user can configure a screen reader to read a data cell at a time, they probably cannot get the corresponding row and column header information associated with a particular data cell. They also may not be aware of when they have navigated into or out of a data table. Many user agents restructure tables to present them. Without appropriate markup, the tables will not make sense when restructured.
Tables also present special problems to users of screen readers.
The following current interim technique is discussed in guideline A.12. Using COM, an external application can attach to IE and perform a variety of tasks, such as limiting the internet addresses one can access, or provide an audio indication when a page has completed loaded. Using COM also allows an external application to access the DOM and the event model of IE, and therefore access and possibly control all the elements of a Web page. Our approach was to develop an application that would again look to address the problems encountered by individuals with a visual disability when they try to navigate and understand data tables on a Web page. The application developed used the same structure as tried when experimenting with tables using JavaScript.