Section 4.1: Defining Accessible Data Tables, Part 2
Types of data tables
There are two types of data tables:
- Simple data tables
- Complex or layered data tables
- Simple data tables
Two conditions define a simple data table: [ 5, p.164
]
- The column header for any given data cell is in the same column as the cell and all column headings are in the same row.
- The row header for any given data cell is in the same row as the cell and all the row headings are in the same column.
- Complex or layered data tables
A layered data table is defined as having "two or more logical levels of row or column headers" [ 5, p.166-7 ]. This means there is more than one heading associated with a particular data cell or that a heading spans across multiple data cells.
Activity 2: Identifying complex and simple data tables
Question 1
Examine the data presented by the Institute on Research on Poverty.
This is a simple data table because each data cell only has one column and row header associated with it. The need to know the headers in order to interpret the meaning of a data cell indicates that it is a data table.
Question 2
Examine the content about Semantic Fields at the top of the page, from the A. Richard Diebold Center for Indo-European Documentation Center.
There is no header associated with any particular row or column, and the content of one cell is not associated with the content of another cell. This information would be better presented in a list format. The display of this data in a grid format is superfluous.
Question 3
Examine the content of Consumer Price Index Table also from the Institute on Research on Poverty.
This is a simple data table because each data cell is related to only one of the headers; "Year", "Poverty Threshold", "CPI-U" and "CPI-U-X1".
Question 4
Examine the content of Proto-Indo-European Lexical Roots also from A. Richard Diebold Center for Indo-European Documentation Center
This table is a complex data table because there is more than one header associated with some of the data cells. For example, "D=T" is associated with "Dental" column and with an articulation of "Voiceless (aspirational optional)" row. However, it is also associated with the header of "Obstruents" so it has 2 row headers.
