Accessibility Minute - February 2026 | Digital Accessibility Office

Accessibility Minute - February 2026

Welcome to our January issue of the Accessibility Minute Newsletter! This newsletter is produced by the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Digital Accessibility Office (DAO) and covers one accessibility skill or topic per month. Please visit the DAO website to access past newsletters. As always, thank you for taking a minute (or two) to read.

Advanced Table Accessibility

�� last month’s newsletter, we discussed what makes a table accessible, covering programmatic table headers, table captions, data tables versus layout tables, and merged and empty data cells. Following that foundational information, this month we’re taking a deeper dive into how to check and fix table accessibility in Adobe Acrobat Pro, with a focus on setting appropriate scope and cell span for merged table cells. Tables can be complex and contain multiple layers of data, and while this month's newsletter focuses on scope and cell span specifically, there may be additional considerations and steps needed to ensure full accessibility and usability.

For a video demonstration, watch .

Why Scope and Cell Span Matter

As previously mentioned in last month’s newsletter, merged cells are the combination of two or more adjacent cells (horizontally, vertically, or both) into a single, larger cell that spans  multiple rows or columns. When merged cells are used, assistive technologies need explicit information about how the merged cell relates to the underlying cells. Rarely is this information automatically applied to a table with merged cells, and incorrect scope and span often lead screen readers to misidentify column and row relationships or read data out of context. If merged cells are necessary for the data in your table, you must learn how to check and edit merged cells within Adobe Acrobat Pro.

Checking Table Accessibility in Adobe Acrobat Pro

Confirm Table Tags

First things first, you need to confirm your table is correctly tagged before addressing merged cells (). Without appropriate tags, scope and cell span won’t matter. Follow the step-by-step instructions to confirm that Adobe has recognized your table structure.

Open the Tags panel: View > Show/Hide > Side Panels > Accessibility Tags

Locate and expand the Table tag. Nested within the Table tag should be Table Rows, and nested below each row should be Table Headers for header rows and columns, and Table Data tags for all tabular data (). Your table should be tagged and nested as follows:

We recommend using the down arrow key to skim through all table rows, headers, and data cells to look for common issues, such as:

Empty

tags when merged cells are present

Missing

How to Set Scope and Span for Merged Cells

In your Tags panel, locate the tag, right-click, and select Table Editor from the drop-down menu. You can also access the Table Editor in the .

Once the Table Editor is enabled, Table Header

cells will appear red, and all Table Data

cells will appear grey. Select the merged cell you wish to edit.

To make the same edits to multiple cells at once, you can click and drag or hold Shift while selecting multiple cells, then open the Table Editor.

Right-click on the merged cell, then select Table Cell Properties.

�� most cases, merged cells are table headers. In the Table Cell Properties window, ensure the Type of cell is set appropriately; either a Header cell or a Data cell.

Open the Scope drop-down menu, set to Column, Row, or Both, depending on the header’s function.

Column: Header applies to all cells under it
Row: Header applies to all cells in that row (to the right of the cell)
Both: Less common, but appropriate when the header describes both the row and column (e.g., cell A1)

Under Attributes, there are Row and Column span fields. Enter the number of cells the merged cell spans. For example, if a merged column header spans 3 columns, enter the number 3 in the Column span field.

Select OK.

Repeat this process for all merged cells in your table.

If your table uses multiple levels of headers (multi-tiered tables), Acrobat may not handle relationships automatically. In these cases, double-check the order and grouping of

 tags so they reflect the actual table hierarchy.

Validate with the Accessibility Checker (But Don't Rely on it)

Please note that Acrobat's Accessibility Checker, like any automated checker, can flag issues but may not fully verify scope and cell span accuracy. For the most accurate accessibility results, manual testing with assistive technology (like screen readers) should be used.

Open the Prepare for Accessibility tool, select Check for Accessibility, then Start Checking.
.

Final Thoughts

While there are additional accessibility needs in PDFs, by reviewing the tag structure, checking merged headers, and assigning scope and cell span appropriately, you are going further than the automated checkers and helping ensure the accessibility of the tables.

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