Linearization Rules

HTML Markup Details

table element

The table element can be used in combination with the tr and td elements to layout blocks of content for a graphical rendering. The use of table markup for layout should be avoided in accessible design. Instead, CSS float and clear properties should be used for positioning blocks of content. If table markup is used for graphical layout, the markup should be restricted to the use of the tr and td elements. Other table elements including th element and summary attribute should not be used.

position property

The CSS position property can be used to layout content to position elements in the browser window. This property for absolute positioining can be used to layout blocks of content for a graphical rendering. However, the use of CSS absolute positioning should be avoided in accessible design and instead, CSS float and clear properties should be used for positioning blocks of content.

Accessibility Evaluation Rules

no.	Testing	Description	Implementation
			FAE	Firefox Accessibility Extension
1	Check/Pass	When tables are used for layout, make sure the reading order makes sense when layout table markup is removed. Implementation Notes Any table that is not identified as a data table is considered a layout table.	NI	NI
2	Check/Pass	When CSS absolute positioning is used for layout, make sure the reading order makes sense when stylesheets are disabled.	NI	NI

FAE Rule Implemetation

Illinois Functional Accessibility Evaluator 1.0

The Illinois Functional Accessibility Evaluator is a web based tool to help developers evaluate web resources for the use of the iCITA HTML best practices.

Web interface cannot currently analyze content generated dynamically with javascript.

Illinois Firefox Accessibility Extension

The Illinois Firefox Accessibility Extension is a Firefox add-in that is designed to identify accessibility features for both static and dynamically generated html content.

Useful for identifying the location of specific accessibility problems for failures and warnings indentified in FAE reports.

Create FAE reports for a page that uses javascript to generate page content with the FAE DHTML Report feature.