Use a table to organize and display content to help users analyze it.
Best practices
Usage
Use a table:
- for numerical data
- text with repeating categories
- feature comparisons
- short summaries of body content
Don't use a table:
- for content where headers would provide the better reading experience
- if a screen reader can’t easily parse it
Style and formatting
Table headers should:
- be informative and concise
- be descriptive but scannable
- be sentence case
- include the units, if applicable
Column alignment is based on the type of content:
- numerical data: right aligned
- text: left aligned
- headers: aligned with the relevant data
Leave empty cells blank or add descriptive text. Don’t add a hyphen.
Symbols used:
- Asterisk (*): The first footnote.
- Dagger (†): The second footnote (also called an obelisk or obelus).
- Double dagger (‡): The third footnote (also called a diesis).
- Section sign (§): The fourth footnote.