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Is the scope attribute still necessary on tables?

I was asked about the scope attribute and whether it is still necessary. Below are found two tables, one with scope, one without.

Findings

There is no difference in test results between tables with scope and tables without scope in modern browsers and screen readers.

There is one use case when it is helpful for JAWS users. When you want a row header for the column headers in cell 1:1. In NVDA and VoiceOver this doesn't work. See example 5 below.

As a result of this testing the NVDA bug has been fixed.

@ppatel @SinaBahram @davidmacd Col/rowgroup scope for Firefox is fixed in Firefox 39.

— James Teh (@jcsteh) July 3, 2015

1: Big Table with no scope and no headers and ids

Degrees in the biological and biomedical sciences compared with degrees in technology conferred by degree-granting institutions, by level of degree and sex of student: Selected years, 2002-2006.
 Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees Doctor's Degrees
BiologyTechnology BiologyTechnology BiologyTechnology
MaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemale MaleFemaleMaleFemaleMaleFemale
Totals127,385206,168200,70759,975 16,74823,52664,72626,62914,607 13,4354,6381,217
200222,91837,18641,95015,483 2,9814,00913,2676,242 2,8042,289648168
200323,24838,26144,58514,903 3,2274,43013,8686,275 2,8042,438709200
200424,61739,99442,12511,986 3,3184,88113,1365,280 2,8452,733905214
200526,65142,52737,7059,775 3,6545,02712,4704,585 2,9332,8421,109307
200629,95145,20034,3427,828 3,5685,17911,9854,247 3,2213,1331,267328

Data from Institution of Education Sciences National Center for Education Statistics, derived from two tables: Table 298. Degrees in the biological and biomedical sciences conferred by degree-granting institutions, by level of degree and sex of students; selected years, 1951-52 through 2006-07 and Table 302. Degrees in computer and information sciences conferred by degree-granting institutions, by level of degree and sex of student: 1970–71 through 2006–07.

2: Big Table with scope added and no headers and ids

Degrees in the biological and biomedical sciences compared with degrees in technology conferred by degree-granting institutions, by level of degree and sex of student: Selected years, 2002-2006.
  Bachelor's Degrees Master's Degrees Doctor's Degrees
Biology Technology Biology Technology Biology Technology
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
Totals 127,385 206,168 200,707 59,975 16,748 23,526 64,726 26,629 14,607 13,435 4,638 1,217
2002 22,918 37,186 41,950 15,483 2,981 4,009 13,267 6,242 2,804 2,289 648 168
2003 23,248 38,261 44,585 14,903 3,227 4,430 13,868 6,275 2,804 2,438 709 200
2004 24,617 39,994 42,125 11,986 3,318 4,881 13,136 5,280 2,845 2,733 905 214
2005 26,651 42,527 37,705 9,775 3,654 5,027 12,470 4,585 2,933 2,842 1,109 307
2006 29,951 45,200 34,342 7,828 3,568 5,179 11,985 4,247 3,221 3,133 1,267 328

Data from Institution of Education Sciences National Center for Education Statistics, derived from two tables: Table 298. Degrees in the biological and biomedical sciences conferred by degree-granting institutions, by level of degree and sex of students; selected years, 1951-52 through 2006-07 and Table 302. Degrees in computer and information sciences conferred by degree-granting institutions, by level of degree and sex of student: 1970–71 through 2006–07.

3 Simple table with scope

Cars 2012 2013 2014
Toyota 100 200 420
Mazda 328 456 157

 

4 Simple table without scope

Cars 2012 2013 2014
Toyota 100 200 420
Mazda 328 456 157

 

5 Simple table with scope

Year 2012 2013 2014
Toyota 100 200 420
Mazda 328 456 157

 

6 Simple table without scope

Year 2012 2013 2014
Toyota 100 200 420
Mazda 328 456 157

 

Results

In all screen readers tested, there was no advantage to adding scope. It took about 15 minutes to add, which is a not an insignificant amount of time for a web developer. The test was to see if headers read ok, and then arrow into a row header or column header and ensure the other headers in that row or column didn't read.

  FF38/JAWS16 IE11/JAWS16 CHROME40/JAWS16 FF38/NVDA2015.2 IE11/NVDA2015.2 CHROME43/NVDA2015.2 VoiceOver in Safari VoiceOver in Chrome iOS
1: Big Table with no scope

Works

Works

 Works

Works

NVDA table nav commands don't work

Works

VO doesn't work with complex tables regardless of scope, headers id etc.

Only announces one level of heading

doesn't work

 VO doesn't work with complex tables regardless of scope, headers id etc. Only announces one level of heading
2:Big Table with scope Works Works Works

Works

NVDA table commands don't work Works VO doesn't work with complex tables regardless of scope, headers id etc Did not work VO doesn't work with complex tables regardless of scope, headers id etc. Only announces one level of heading

3. Simple table WITH scope

cell 1:1 is col header

 Works Works Works Works NVDA table commands don't work Works Works Did not work Works
4. Simple table WITHOUT scope cell 1:1 is col header Works Works Works Works NVDA table commands don't work Works Works Did not work Works

5. Simple table

simple table WITH scope

cell 1:1 is row header

 Works Works Works cell 1:1 doesn't announce when moving into other row headers. NVDA table commands don't work cell 1:1 doesn't announce when moving into other col headers. cell 1:1 doesn't announce when moving into other col headers. Did not work Works

6. Simple table

simple table WITHOUT scope

cell 1:1 is row header

 cell 1:1 doesn't announce when moving into other row headers. cell 1:1 doesn't announce when moving into other row headers. cell 1:1 doesn't announce when moving into other row headers. cell 1:1 doesn't announce when moving into other row headers. NVDA table commands don't work Works Works Did not work Works