Repository navigation
Add info about copy/paste tables in the content topic Tables in the content #415
Description
- I've checked the existing issues for this change
URL
page URL https://wpaccessibility.org/docs/topics/content/tables/
Title
Tables in the content
What Needs Editing?
Comment from Nicholas Longtin I agree with:
Documenting this for content managers rather than developers is the right call, because most of the tables that break were never built in the editor. They arrive by paste, out of a spreadsheet or as a screenshot of one, and the top row looks like a header because it's bold. Worth one more line on the page: if you pasted the table, rebuild the header row.
We need to add info about copy/paste tables, the risks and how to handle it.
Metadata
Metadata
Assignees
Type
Projects
- Status
Activity
isaeedam-ir commentedon Oct 22, 2026
I’d like to help with this documentation update.
I reviewed the issue details and the current “Tables in the content” page. I can verify the guidance for tables pasted from spreadsheets or other sources, explain why visually bold text is not necessarily a real table header, and propose a concise section covering the accessibility risks and the correct way to rebuild the header row in WordPress.
Please assign this issue to me so I can prepare the proposed wording for review.
/assign
rianrietveld commentedon Oct 22, 2026
@isaeedam-ir thank you for picking this up.
isaeedam-ir commentedon Oct 22, 2026
Tables copied from other sources
Tables copied from spreadsheets or other applications can look correct while missing the structure that assistive technologies need. Bold text or visual formatting does not make a row a table header, and a screenshot of a table is not accessible table data.
When you paste a table into WordPress, check that it has a real header row. If the first row contains column headings but is not marked as a header, recreate the table with the Table block, enable the Header section, and enter the headings there. If the table was pasted as an image or screenshot, recreate it as a real table instead of using the image as a replacement.
For complex tables, consider simplifying the data or splitting it into several smaller tables. This makes the relationships between headers and data clearer for everyone, especially people using screen readers.
See the Table block documentation and the W3C Tables Tutorial for more information.