DIVIDE LONG OR COMPLEX TABLES

Long and complex tables present unique accessibility challenges. Navigating an entire 15-week course schedule table, for instance, can be unnecessarily burdensome for users of screen readers. Imagine if finding a critical due date for an assignment involved students going on a scavenger hunt. As you can imagine, your students wouldn't be happy and you would likely be bombarded by questions.

The best approach for handling complex tables, then, is to divide them into multiple simpler tables. For instance, instead of a full course schedule table, you can create a much shorter and easier-to-navigate module, unit, or week table, then put each module table under a section heading listing that module's number and name. This can turn a difficult task into a smooth and easy one for users of screen readers.

ACCESSIBILITY FOR EVERYONE

Dividing complex tables into multiple tables also helps sighted users find the appropriate information quickly and easily.

MINIMIZE THE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION IN EACH CELL

Course schedules and other complex tables often run into accessibility issues by trying to include too much complex information in each cell. The most accessible tables will have consistent and easily understood information in each cell.

If your cells have a lot of information in them, reconsider the structure of the table in order to reduce the complexity of each cell. For example, consider this week's schedule. The "Requirements Due" cells contain a lot of information, making them harder to understand for some users.

*Week 1 Requirements (Complex Cells)*
Date	Requirements Due
Monday, January 10	Read Chapter 1 of textbook Complete Chapter 1 Discussion Board Write Chapter 1 reflection essay Submit Assignment #1
Wednesday, January 12	Read Chapter 2 of textbook Complete Chapter 2 Discussion Board Watch video lectures 1-4 Write Chapter 2 reflection essay Submit Assignment #2
Friday, January 14	Read Chapter 3 of textbook Complete Chapter 3 Discussion Board Write Chapter 2 reflection essay Submit Assignment #3

Instead, you could separate the requirements for each date out into different columns, resulting in much simpler cells.

*Week 1 Requirements (Simple Cells)*
Date	Readings/Videos	Discussion Boards	Reflection Essays	Assignments
Monday, January 10	Chapter 1 of textbook	Chapter 1	Chapter 1	Assignment 1
Wednesday, January 12	Chapter 2 of textbook, Video lectures 1-4	Chapter 2	Chapter 2	Assignment 2
Friday, January 14	Chapter 3 of textbook	Chapter 3	Chapter 3	Assignment 3

Important Note

Do not use the "Merge cells" option, since this can cause issues with reading order in a table.

USE THE SYLLABUS FEATURE IN CANVAS

For faculty who don't want to worry about the accessibility of their course schedules, the most worry-free option is the built-in Syllabus feature in Canvas.

The Syllabus in Canvas is accessible by default in the left sidebar. If you removed it from your course, you may add it back in under Settings > Navigation.

The Syllabus includes an editable section at the top in which you can put text, such as your course information and policies. Below that is a section labeled Course Summary. This section is automatically populated with dates for anything you set in Canvas.

Assignments and Quizzes are automatically added to the Course Summary when their due date is set. Pages and Discussion Boards can be added by checking the "Add to student to-do" box and assigning a date.

You can also manually add to the Course Summary section by adding an event to your calendar in Canvas. For example, if you want to mark the end date of a module but do not have an associated Assignment, Quiz, Page, or Discussion Board, you can create an event called "Module 1 ends" and set the date in the calendar.

TIP

If you use the Course Summary section for your schedule, make sure students know where it is located, since the "Syllabus" label may not be clear to them.

One side benefit of using the Course Summary feature for your course calendar is that you will never have a mismatch between your stated due date and the due date set in Canvas. Because the Course Summary automatically adds items from Canvas, changing the due date of something in Canvas will change the date on the Course Summary as well.

Continue on to take a quick, 3-question quiz about tables or skip the quiz and go to Step 8.

Take the Tables Quiz Skip to Step 8

Quick Recap

Divide long or complex tables into multiple simpler tables and restructure tables to make each cell's contents simpler.

Further Reading