Navigating the Grid: Understanding Native HTML Tables vs. role="grid" 

When it comes to presenting tabular data on the web, developers often face a choice: Use the native HTML <table> element or employ the ARIA role="grid" attribute. While both aim to structure data for presentation, they serve distinct purposes and have different implications for accessibility. 

Native HTML Table (<table>) 

• Purpose: Designed specifically for tabular data with clear row and column relationships. 

• Structure: Utilizes semantic HTML elements like <tr> (row), <th> (table header), and <td> (table data) to define the table structure. 

• Accessibility: Built-in accessibility support. Screen readers can easily interpret the table structure and provide users with efficient navigation (e.g., by row, by column). 

role="grid" 

• Purpose: Used when you have a grid-like visual presentation but the data doesn't inherently follow a strict table structure. This is often used for complex interactive widgets. 

• Structure: Can be implemented using various HTML elements (often <div>s) to create the grid-like layout. 

• Accessibility: Requires ARIA attributes (like role="row", role="gridcell", aria-labelledby) to provide the necessary structural information to assistive technologies. Screen readers need these attributes to understand the grid's layout and navigate it effectively. 

Benefits of Using role="grid" 

• Flexibility: Offers greater flexibility in terms of layout and design compared to the rigid structure of HTML tables. 

• Semantic Accuracy: Allows for more accurate representation of the data structure when it doesn't strictly adhere to a tabular format. 

• Enhanced Interactivity: Enables more complex interactions within the grid, such as drag-and-drop, sorting, filtering, grouping and likewise. 

• Row selection either single select or multi select is also easily possible. 

Keyboard Navigation Within Grid  

Since grid is a composite widget, thus have a single tab stop. All directional arrow keys are used to navigate between cells. While navigating out of the grid, the last focused cell retains keyboard focus when navigating back to the grid. A clear distinction with the help of focus indicator is possible between cell with only textual content versus cell with interactive content, as in former the whole cell takes focus while in later direct the interactive content takes focus. 

Column Headers and Focus 

The WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices Guide (APG) suggests that column headers that do not have associated actions (e.g., sorting) may not require keyboard focus. However, for consistency and predictability, many UI design patterns opt to make all column headers focusable. 

• Consistency: Consistent focus behavior across the UI can improve user experience and reduce confusion. 

• Usability: Even if a column header doesn't have a direct action, it can still provide valuable information to users (e.g., column labels). Making them focusable allows users to navigate and explore the grid more effectively. 

Conclusion 

Choosing between native HTML tables and role="grid" depends on the specific use case and the nature of the data being presented. Native HTML tables offer robust, built-in accessibility for simple tabular data. However, role="grid" provides the flexibility and enhanced interactivity necessary for complex data presentations and applications. 

For a product company dealing with large datasets and demanding a high degree of user interaction, the limitations of native HTML tables become apparent. In Pega, we handle scenarios that go far beyond simple data display. We require: 

• Extensive Data Manipulation: Users need to perform complex operations such as sorting, filtering, grouping, and reordering data. 

• Personalized Views: The ability to customize how data is displayed is crucial. 

• Efficient Navigation: Traditional table navigation becomes cumbersome with the large amounts of data our users work with, leading to extensive and inefficient keyboard navigation. 

• Advanced Selection: Support for both single and multi-row selection is essential for many workflows. 

• Dynamic Content: The ability to add and delete rows dynamically is a frequent requirement. 

By leveraging role="grid", we can provide highly interactive, data-rich and user-friendly experiences that are also accessible. This allows us to meet the complex needs of our all of our users.

For more information on tables versus role="grids", listen to our Accessibility@Pega Podcast