Table cells reference headers that do not exist

Automated check td-headers-attr, run with axe-core

WCAG

1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A)

Severity

Moderate: a degraded experience

Typical effort

Moderate, 1 to 4 hours

Category

Content

Who this affects

Screen reader users reading complex tables.

Why it matters

Broken header references leave cells uncontextualised despite the markup appearing intentional.

How to fix it

Ensure every id listed in a headers attribute matches a <th> in the same table.

Related checks: Content

• Meters have no accessible name
• Progress bars have no accessible name
• Tooltips have no accessible name
• Table header cells are empty
• Images have no text alternative
• Image alt text duplicates nearby visible text
• Embedded objects have no text alternative
• Elements with role="img" have no text alternative

All checks