A procurement comparison can look clear on a wide screen while losing the relationship between a fee, its plan and its billing period. Approve a header map before decorative table styling. Where possible, split a complex table into simpler tables rather than making readers reconstruct it.
Primary evidence and claim boundaries
W3C WAI describes explicit id/headers associations for cells with multiple header levels when simpler row/column scope is insufficient. Primary reference · Read 17 October 2026.
Filled acceptance example
Synthetic teaching scenario, not a client case, provider integration test or business result. Scroll the example table on narrow screens.
| Synthetic data cell | Required header meaning | Expected reading |
|---|---|---|
| id=cASetup; value 240 | planA + one-off + setup | PlanA / one-off setup / AUD240 |
| id=cARun; value 30 | planA + monthly + support | PlanA / monthly support / AUD30 |
| id=cBSetup; value 0 | planB + one-off + setup | PlanB / one-off setup / AUD0 |
| Blank support cell | No supplied quote | Unknown, not free |
Practical handover procedure
- List exactly what each data cell must mean independently. Add a caption and units; keep omitted quote data visibly unknown. Do not merge unknown and zero into one dash.
- Prefer one table per billing period when that reduces complexity. If the structure remains multi-level, ask the developer to supply the cell-to-header mapping and valid unique header IDs.
- Test reading order and header announcements with the agreed browser/assistive-technology pair. Repeat on a narrow viewport; visual card conversion must preserve the same meaning.
Interpret the outcome
AUD240 and AUD30 cannot be compared without the one-off/monthly distinction. The filled map gives reviewers an exact expected reading for each cell and catches a blank being displayed as zero. Semantic markup supports the relationship but still needs actual assistive-technology testing.
Acceptance decision
A reviewer should identify plan, fee type, period and currency from every amount, using both visual and nonvisual navigation. A correctly aligned screenshot is insufficient.
Limits and unverified work
Synthetic prices, not vendor quotes or a recommendation. No screen-reader test was performed by this worksheet and no full WCAG conformance is asserted.
Download the filled bilingual acceptance record — Contains these inputs, steps, expectations and limits. This is a teaching record, not an executable integration.