Table Reading Style

The particular way in which a reader accesses and processes the content of a data table, determined by the interaction between the table's structure, content, and the reader's intent. Common table reading styles include: by cell (random access to individual cells), by row (reading across), by column (reading down), by intersection (accessing the cell at a specific row-column junction), sequential (reading through ordered data), and reading with unit (accessing cells together with their header context). Sighted readers switch fluidly between these styles using visual scanning, but screen reader users are typically constrained to row-by-row linearization, which supports only one reading style and loses the multi-dimensional relationships that make tables useful.