How can you optimize responsive tables for accessibility and performance?

1 Use semantic markup

Semantic markup is the use of HTML elements and attributes that convey the meaning and structure of the content. Semantic markup helps screen readers, search engines, and other tools to understand and process the information in the table. For example, you should use the <table>, <thead>, <tbody>, <tfoot>, <tr>, <th>, and <td> tags to create a table, and use the scope, headers, and id attributes to associate the table headers with the corresponding cells. You should also use the <caption> tag to provide a descriptive title for the table, and the <summary> attribute to give a brief overview of the table content and layout.

4 Test and evaluate

Testing and evaluating your responsive table is an essential step to ensure that it works well on different devices and browsers, and that it meets the accessibility and performance standards. You should test your table with various screen sizes, resolutions, orientations, and zoom levels, and use different input methods, such as mouse, keyboard, touch, and voice. You should also test your table with different assistive technologies, such as screen readers, magnifiers, and switch devices, and follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to check the contrast, color, focus, labels, and structure of your table. You should also test your table with different network conditions, such as slow, offline, and intermittent, and use performance tools, such as Lighthouse, to measure the loading time, rendering speed, and resource consumption of your table.

By following these tips, you can optimize your responsive tables for accessibility and performance, and create a better user experience for your web visitors.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?