OpenA11y Evaluation Library

Name must be different than description

Rule ID Table 8
Conformance Required
Definition The accessible name of a data table must be different from its accessible description.
Purpose
  • Accessible name and description are designed to provide two different types of information to users of assistive technologies and therefore should not duplicate each other.
  • Accessible name is designed to provide a short title to identify the data table, so when users of assistive technology are using table navigation commands they can identify the table.
  • Accessible description is designed to provide a longer summary of the table, this could include author intended conclusions of the data.
Conformance Required
WCAG Success Criteria

Success Criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships

Other Related Success Criterion:

Rule Category Tables/Layout
Rule Scope Element
First Step no
Techniques
  • Accessible name is typically defined using the caption element, but the title, aria-label and aria-labelledby attribute can also be used.
  • Accessible description is typically defined using the aria-describedby attribute, but the title attribute can also be used.
  • ^Note:^ The summary^Note:^ The @summary@Note: The @summary@ attribute is no longer supported in HTML.
Information Links