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Carbon bakes keyboard operation into its components, improving the experience of blind users and others who operate via the keyboard. Carbon incorporates many other accessibility considerations, some of which are described below.

There are three data table variants with different interactions. Optional features like column sorting can appear in any of the variants. Table pagination is treated as a separate component.

For sortable tables, the column headers are reachable by Tab and sortable with Space or Enter.

Any interactive controls in data cells are in the tab order and maintain normal keyboard operation. This also applies to expandable table rows, which operate in the same manner as accordions.

tab order proceeds sequentially through the table row expansion icons then to a link inside an expanded row

Links, inputs, and other interactive controls inside tables operate by keyboard as normal.

If columns are sortable, the sort symbols appear on hover or focus. A sorted column retains an indicator until it is no longer sorted.

The Rule column header has focus and shows a sortable icon, and the Status column header has a 'sorted ascending' icon

Sort indicators appear on hover and focus. A sorted column is indicated visually.

Since there is no persistent visual indicator that a table is sortable, designers need to annotate if a table should be implemented with sortable column headers.

the header row is annotated 'sortable headers'

Annotate if a table is sortable.

Keep this in mind if you are modifying Carbon or creating a custom component:

Column sorting indicators are matched programmatically using aria-sort
Remember to supply an aria-label, aria-labelledby or title to the Table component to comply with accessible naming
See the ARIA authoring practices for more considerations

Component	Accessibility test	Status	Link to source code
Data table	Test(s) that ensure the initial render state of a component is accessible.	Passes all automated tests with no reported accessibility violations.	GitHub link
	Tests that ensure additional states of the component are accessible. This could be interactive states of a component or its multiple variants.	Passes all automated tests with no reported accessibility violations.
	Tests that ensure focus is properly managed, and all interactive functions of a component have a proper keyboard-accessible equivalent.	Passes all automated tests with no reported accessibility violations.
	This manual testing ensures that the visual information on the screen is properly conveyed and read correctly by screen readers such as JAWS, VoiceOver, and NVDA.	A human has manually tested this component, e.g. screen reader testing.

Help us improve by providing feedback, asking questions, requesting features, or leaving any other comments on GitHub.

Data table

What Carbon provides

Keyboard interaction

Controls inside tables

Labeling and updates

Design recommendations

Development considerations

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