Provide abbreviations for header labels.

(see guidelines for overcoming access barriers)

The ABBR tag should be used to give better information to screen readers. The TITLE attribute of the ABBR tag gives the full description of the abbreviation. It can be used, for example, to give a shorter version of a long table heading. But it can also be used to provide a longer version, for example, Monday instead of Mon.

In the following example the abbreviation is for the teacher names in the table headers and within the footer label. The point of this example is that where text is abbreviated in a label the complete text should also be included within the <ABBR> tags.

Take time to view this table in different browsers. The ABBR tag will display differently, depending on the browser and browser version. Internet Explorer (up to version 6) does not display the text within the ABBR tag differently but Netscape 7, Firefox and other modern browsers give the text a dotted underline.

Example:

Providing abbreviations:

Food Technology - Teacher timetable + rates
Teacher, Rate	Subject	Room	Time
H.Sci	Year 1	Tuesdays	45 mins
Mrs BB
12.50	Cooking 1	kitch a.1	8.45
15.80	Cooking 2	kitch a.2	9.45
12.50	Cooking 3	kitch a.3	10.45
Mr CC
15.80	Eating 1	dining a.3	9.45
Ms AA
6.6	Washing up 1	Scullery a.4	10.45
6.6	Washing up 1	Scullery a.4	11.45

Code for Providing abbreviations


<table summary = "This table shows a teacher timetable for Tuesdays
for the Year 1 Home Science subject. It contains Rooms, times, Subject
names, Teachers names and pay rates for the different subjects.">
  <caption>Food Technology - Teacher timetable + rates</caption>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th><p><span id="t1-r1-t">Teacher</span>,<br> 
      <span id="t1-r1-r">Rate</span></p></th>
      <th id="c2"><p>Subject</p></th>
      <th id="c3"><p>Room</p></th>
      <th id="c4"><p>Time</p></th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tfoot>
    <tr>
      <th id="f1"><p><abbr title'"Home Science">H.Sci</abbr></p></th>
      <th id="f2"><p>Year 1</p></th>
      <th id="f3"><p>Tuesdays</p></th>
      <th id="f4"><p>45 mins</p></th>
    </tr>
  </tfoot>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <th headers="t1-r1-t" colspan="4"><p>Mrs <abbr title'"Bertha Biggs">BB</abbr></p></th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td headers="t1-r1-r"><p>12.50 </p></td>
      <td headers="c2"><p>Cooking 1</p></td>
      <td headers="c3"><p>kitch a.1</p></td>
      <td headers="c4"><p>8.45</p></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td headers="t1-r1-r"><p>15.80</p></td>
      <td headers="c2"><p>Cooking 2</p></td>
      <td headers="c3"><p>kitch a.2</p></td>
      <td headers="c4"><p>9.45</p></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td headers="t1-r1-r"><p>12.50</p></td>
      <td headers="c2"><p>Cooking 3</p></td>
      <td headers="c3"><p>kitch a.3</p></td>
      <td headers="c4"><p>10.45</p></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th headers="t1-r1-t" colspan="4"><p>Mr <abbr title'"Carlos Castillo">CC</abbr></p></th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td headers="t1-r1-r"><p>15.80</p></td>
      <td headers="c2"><p>Eating 1</p></td>
      <td headers="c3"><p>dining a.3</p></td>
      <td headers="c4"><p>9.45</p></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th headers="t1-r1-t" colspan="4"><p>Ms <abbr title'"Agnetha Ackelburg">AA</abbr></p></th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td headers="t1-r1-r"><p>6.6</p></td>
      <td headers="c2"><p>Washing up 1</p></td>
      <td headers="c3"><p>Scullery a.4</p></td>
      <td headers="c4"><p>10.45</p></td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td headers="t1-r1-r"><p>6.6</p></td>
      <td headers="c2"><p>Washing up 1</p></td>
      <td headers="c3"><p>Scullery a.4</p></td>
      <td headers="c4"><p>11.45</p></td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
  </table>