Tables Accessibility Skill

Canonical source: examples/TABLES_ACCESSIBILITY_BEST_PRACTICES.md in mgifford/ACCESSIBILITY.md This skill is derived from that file. When in doubt, the example is authoritative.

Apply these rules when creating or reviewing HTML data tables. Only load this skill if the project contains data tables.

Core Mandate

Tables communicate relationships between data. Sighted users scan rows and columns visually; screen reader users navigate cell by cell and rely on header announcements for context. Without proper markup, every cell is an orphaned data point.

Never use tables for layout. Use CSS (Grid, Flexbox) instead. Layout tables that remain in a codebase must have role="presentation" and must linearise without loss of meaning.