How can I make my footnotes in table headers accessible

Hi @Jwoodley 

This is a very difficult situation to resolve. First, footnotes in tables are tough to control in any part of a table because they interrupt the reading order of the tables matrix of rows and columnns. That matrix concept is critical for users of screen readers to understand where they are in the table; in which column and in which row.

Footnotes themselves (not just table footnotes) are loosely defined in the PDF/UA standards, so there isn't much guidance on how to best handle them.

Our studio's policy is to hyperlink the footnote's citation (superscript 1 in the text) to its corresponding note at the bottom of the table. Use InDesign's hyperlinks panel to set the destination anchor, and then hyperlink to it. Also put Alt Text on the hyperlink that says "Footnote 1."  This method has these benefits:

• Let's the user know that there is a footnote.
• Let's the user decide if they want to hear the contents of the footnote. They can choose to click and go to the footnote, or skip it, which they're likely to do when they are reading that heading for the umpteenth time.

Which brings up one concern I have with footnotes in table header cells <TH>.

By default, a screen reader voices the information in the data cell's <TH> first, and then the actual data in data cell. You can imagine how often the user will hear about footnote one and they read down that particular column (two columns in your example). It'll drive the user nuts!

I think your table needs a redesign to be fully accessible and functional for the greatest number of people, sighted or not. Some suggestions:

• Get the footnote out of the table header. Instead, the particular content in your example could be placed before the table <Table> itself as a <P> body text paragraph. Something like "Note: Kaiser Foundation Healthcare NW, etc."   This is critical information for all users, and when we bury it in footnotes at the bottom of a table, it nearly never gets read by those using assistive technologies, especially screen readers. The table itself is just too difficult for them to even get to the footnotes at all. So we try to find creative ways to put that info as body text before the user even starts to navigate the <Table> at all. This strategy doesn't work for all tables, but I think it can in your example.
• You have merged cells in the body of the table, which become really difficult for screen reader users to navigate and perceive. The table becomes confusing to screen reader users. We recommend breaking apart those merged cells so that they again correspond to each individual column. The "Classic" column needs its "no" symbol, and so does the "DCHP" column.
• Put Actual Text on each symbol (yes, each and every one). "Yes" for the black checkmark, "No" for the green symbol.
• Check the color contrast ratio (required by all standards). I'm concerned that the green circle isn't dark enough to meet the ratio. Test your colors at https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/ 

Good luck with this. It was wise to ask the question!

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