Communication Design Quarterly Mar 2025 Open Access

Designing Accessible Tables: When Technical Communication Competencies Come into Conflict

Meredith A. Johnson University of South Florida ; Lauren E. Cagle University of Kentucky

Abstract

Tables, one of the most familiar forms of data visualization, are often put to use as a popular workaround for laying out pages in word processing programs. This article illustrates examples of friction, compatibility , and congruence between accepted guidance for designing effective tables in Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) and widely adopted accessibility standards outlined by the largest international software vendors and non-profit organizations. While acknowledging critiques in critical disability studies and in TPC of standards-based approaches to accessibility, we argue that adherence to standards offers a starting point for redressing the inaccessibility created by some TPC pedagogical practices. Navigating these departures and overlaps is important because designing effective data visualizations, laying out pages, and creating accessible documents are core competencies in technical communication that instantiate deeply held professional and disciplinary commitments to creating usable and ethical documents.

Journal
Communication Design Quarterly
Published
2025-03-01
DOI
10.1145/3718959.3718960
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Topics
writing pedagogy technical communication professional writing digital rhetoric disability studies
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