XHTML - Table summary and caption

Table summary and caption  
summary="" <table summary="products">
<tbody>

<tr>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td >&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td ></td>
<td >&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<caption></caption> 
[for 508]		 <table>
<tbody>
<caption>products</caption>
<tr>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td >&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td ></td>
<td >&nbsp;</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

The caption element identifies the table whereas the summary attribute gives an overview of the purpose or explains how to navigate the table. If both are used, the caption should not duplicate information in the summary. 

If a table is used for layout, the caption element is NOT used. The purpose of a layout table is simply to control the placement of content; the table itself is "transparent" to the user. A caption would "break" this transparency by calling attention to the table.

 

 Procedure 

  1. 1. Check for layout tables: determine whether the content has a relationship with other content in both its column and its row. 
    1a. If "no," the table is a layout table.
    1b. If "yes," the table is a data table.
     
  2. 2.If the table is a layout table, check that the table does NOT include a caption element.
     
  3. 3. If the table is a data table and it includes a caption element, check that the caption identifies the table
      
  4. 4. If both a summary attribute and a caption element are present for this data table, check that the summary does not duplicate the caption.