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This vignette shows you how {aftables} meets accessibility best practice.
This page shows how the features of the {aftables} package meet the Analysis Function’s ‘Making spreadsheets accessible: checklist of the basics’ guidance.
The assessments in the table below are based on generating an
unedited output from a typical {aftables} workflow, i.e. use
create_aftable() to make an aftable that’s passed to
generate_workbook() and then written with
openxlsx::saveWorkbook().
There are several self-assessed indicators used in the ‘status’ column of the tables below:
| Description | Essential? | Status | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark up tables | Yes | Met | Provided automatically by
generate_workbook() |
| Give tables meaningful names | No | Met | Unique table names are generated from the
tab_titles argument in create_aftable() |
| Remove merged cells, split cells and nested tables | Yes | Met | {aftables} doesn’t create these features |
| Remove blank rows and columns within tables | Yes | Partly/user’s responsibility | A warning is supplied to a user if cells in the table
are blank but no explanation has been provided in the
blank_cells column of the provided aftables object |
| All tables should have one tagged header row | Yes | Met | R’s data.frame class only allows for one header row, which must have unique names; the header row is tagged when marked-up as a table |
| Wrap text within cells | Yes | Met | generate_workbook() wraps content by
default; there’s a simple check in {aftables} to widen a column if it
contains long strings |
| Avoid adding filters and freeze panes | No | Met | Filters and freezing aren’t supported by {aftables} |
| Only leave cells with no data empty in certain circumstances | Yes | User’s responsibility | The user should describe why there are blank cells in
the blank_cells column of their aftables object |
| Avoid hiding rows or columns | No | Met | Hiding isn’t supported by {aftables} |
| Columns should be a sensible width | No | Partly | {aftables} uses a fixed default column width for data tables (16), which is doubled (32) if the length of the content exceeds a threshold number of characters (50) |
| Description | Essential? | Status | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do not use symbols or superscript to signpost to notes | Yes | Met/user’s responsibility | Notes are detected automatically as digits in square brackets; superscript is not supported by {aftables} |
| Use the word ‘note’ when referring to footnotes | No | User’s responsibility | Notes are detected in the form ‘[note 1]’; the user should be consistent about this wording |
| Avoid putting note markers in specific cells | No | User’s responsibility | Columns named ‘Notes’ and note markers in column headers are detected, the user should not put these elsewhere |
| Put note text in a notes table on a notes worksheet | No | Met | create_aftable() expects the
sheet_type ‘notes’ |
| Description | Essential? | Status | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| All written content needs to meet the accessibility guidelines | No | User’s responsibility | {aftables} does not check the validity of user-supplied text |
| Links must be accessible | Yes | User’s responsibility | {aftables} does not check the validity of user-supplied text |
| Format text to make it accessible | No | Met | generate_workbook() auto-formats the
text |
| All worksheets should have descriptive titles which are properly tagged and formatted | Yes | Partly/user’s responsibility | {aftables} does not check user-supplied text nor data; the package handles formatting but not yet mark-up for headings |
| Avoid using symbols in general | No | User’s responsibility | {aftables} does not check the validity of user-supplied text |
| Do not use headers and footers, floating text boxes or floating toolbars | Yes | Met | These features aren’t supported by {aftables} |
| Do not use visual devices to divide data regions | No | Met | Colours and patterns aren’t supported by {aftables} |
| Do not use a background fill | No | Met | Fills aren’t supported by {aftables} |
| Do not use colour as the only way to convey a message | Yes | Met | Colour is not supported by {aftables} |
| When using colour for emphasis check the contrast | Yes | Not applicable | Colour is not supported by {aftables}, so a check is not required |
| Avoid images in spreadsheets | No | Met | Images aren’t supported by {aftables} |
| Remove macros | No | Met | Macros aren’t supported by {aftables} |
| Description | Essential? | Status | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Give worksheets unique names or numbers | Yes | User’s responsibility | Supply tab_titles to
create_aftable(), which gives a warning if any names
match |
| Remove blank worksheets | Yes | Met | create_aftable() will error if expected
argument content is missing |
| Use cells in column A wisely | Yes | Met | generate_workbook() inserts the sheet
title, table count, notes statement, source statement and tables into
column A by default |
| Position tables against the left-hand edges of each sheet | Yes | Met | generate_workbook() inserts automatically
the tables into column A |
| Avoid putting content below a table | No | Met | generate_workbook() adds information to
rows above tables only |
| Avoid worksheets with multiple tables | No | Met | The package supports only one table per sheet (for now) |
| Description | Essential? | Status | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run a spelling and grammar check | Yes | User’s responsibility | These checks aren’t supported by {aftables}; the user should check using their own software |
| Use the accessibility checker | No | User’s responsibility | These checks aren’t supported by {aftables}; the user should check using their own software |
| Add document information | Yes | User’s responsibility | Not yet possible with {aftables}; users must do this manually |
| Ensure the cursor is in cell A1 of the first worksheet when doing your final save | Yes | Met | Occurs automatically |
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