Techniques for WCAG 2.0

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# H79: Identifying the purpose of a link using link text combined with its enclosing table cell and associated table headings

## Applicability

All technologies that contain links.

This technique relates to:

- Success Criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context))
  - How to Meet 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context))
  - Understanding Success Criterion 2.4.4 (Link Purpose (In Context))

## Description

The objective of this technique is to identify the purpose of a link from the link in its data table context. This context is the table cell enclosing the link and the cell's associated headings. The data table context provides the purpose for an otherwise unclear link when the table cell is the nearest enclosing block-level ancestor element. It lets a user distinguish this link from other links in the Web page that lead to other destinations and helps the user determine whether to follow the link. Note that simply providing the URI of the destination is not sufficiently descriptive for people with disabilities, especially those with cognitive disabilities.

## Examples

### Example 1: A table of rental car choices

Example Code:

     <table>
    <tr>
      <th></th>
      <th id="a1">Alamo</th>
      <th id="a2">Budget</th>
      <th id="a3">National</th>
      <th id="a4">Avis</th>
      <th id="a5">Hertz</th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th id="b1">Economy cars</th>
      <td headers="a1 b1"><a href="econ_ala.htm">$67/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a2 b1"><a href="econ_bud.htm">$68/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a3 b1"><a href="econ_nat.htm">$72/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a4 b1"><a href="econ_av.htm">$74/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a5 b1"><a href="econ_hz.htm">$74/day</a></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th id="b2">Compact cars</th>
      <td headers="a1 b2"><a href="comp_ala.htm">$68/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a2 b2"><a href="comp_bud.htm">$69/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a3 b2"><a href="comp_nat.htm">$74/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a4 b2"><a href="comp_av.htm">$76/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a5 b2"><a href="comp_hz.htm">$76/day</a></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th id="b3">Mid-sized cars</th>
      <td headers="a1 b3"><a href="mid_ala.htm">$79/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a2 b3"><a href="mid_bud.htm">$80/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a3 b3"><a href="mid_nat.htm">$83/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a4 b3"><a href="mid_av.htm">$85/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a5 b3"><a href="mid_hz.htm">$85/day</a></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th id="b4">Full-sized cars</th>
      <td headers="a1 b4"><a href="full_ala.htm">$82/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a2 b4"><a href="full_bud.htm">$83/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a3 b4"><a href="full_nat.htm">$89/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a4 b4"><a href="full_av.htm">$91/day</a></td>
      <td headers="a5 b4"><a href="full_hz.htm">$91/day</a></td>
    </tr>
    </table>

## Resources

No resources available for this technique.

## Related Techniques

- G53: Identifying the purpose of a link using link text combined with the text of the enclosing sentence
- G91: Providing link text that describes the purpose of a link
- H33: Supplementing link text with the title attribute
- H77: Identifying the purpose of a link using link text combined with its enclosing list item
- H78: Identifying the purpose of a link using link text combined with its enclosing paragraph
- H80: Identifying the purpose of a link using link text combined with the preceding heading element
- H81: Identifying the purpose of a link in a nested list using link text combined with the parent list item under which the list is nested
- C7: Using CSS to hide a portion of the link text

## Tests

### Procedure

For each link in the content that uses this technique:

1. Check that the link is in a table cell.

2. Check that text of the link combined with the text of the associated table heading describes the purpose of the link.

### Expected Results

- The above checks are true.

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