Can a TD come before a TH?

HTML & CSS
#1

Hello. I just created an HTML table and got it looking just like I wanted, and then decided that I want to have a red arrow pointing to a particular row for emphasis.

In order to keep the arrow aligned with the rest of the row data, I decided to create a new empty column and add the Unicode for this arrow there.

However, i am unsure if my “hack” will break proper HTML semantics?

Here is an example of what I want to do…

<table>
	<thead>
		<tr>
			<td scope="col"></td> <!-- HERE -->
			<th scope="col">Product</th>
			<th scope="col">Description</th>
			<th scope="col">Price</th>
		</tr>
	</thead>

	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td scope="row"></td>
			<th>Men's Bathrobe/th>
			<td>Heavy, good for Winter...</td>
			<td>$35.99</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td scope="row">&#10148</td> <!-- HERE -->
			<th>Fuzzy Slippers</th>
			<td>Warm, cozy slippers...</td>
			<td>$19.99</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

The example above shows how I added a TD as the 1st column.

Thoughts?

#2

Hi,
The validator throws the following error in regards to the scope on the td

The scope attribute on the td element is obsolete. Use the scope attribute on a th element instead.

It does not give an error in regards to a td preceding a th. Also, MDN td specs gives this info.

Tag omission

The start tag is mandatory.
The end tag may be omitted, if it is immediately followed by a <th> or <td> element or if there are no more data in its parent element.

I read that to say that it could be possible for a th to follow a td.
Semantically speaking though I would expect all td elements to follow a th.

Is there some reason you can’t slip your unicode in the th before the heading text, and move the scope=“row” to the th

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Test Page</title>
<style>
th[scope="row"] {text-align:right}

</style>

</head>
<body>

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th scope="col">Product</th>
      <th scope="col">Description</th>
      <th scope="col">Price</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>

  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <th scope="row">Men's Bathrobe</th>
      <td>Heavy, good for Winter...</td>
      <td>$35.99</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th scope="row">&#10148; Fuzzy Slippers</th>
      <td>Warm, cozy slippers...</td>
      <td>$19.99</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

</body>
</html>
1 Like
#3

I think that adding your arrow to a :before element on the th will give you the alignment you were trying to achieve.

Screenshot

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Test Page</title>
<style>
th[scope="row"] {
 text-align:left;
 background:#eee;
}
th[scope="row"]::before {
  content:'\27A4';
  color: transparent;
  padding-right:.25em;
}
th.arrow::before {
  color:#000;
}
</style>

</head>
<body>

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th scope="col">Product</th>
      <th scope="col">Description</th>
      <th scope="col">Price</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>

  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <th scope="row">Men's Bathrobe</th>
      <td>Heavy, good for Winter...</td>
      <td>$35.99</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th class="arrow" scope="row">Fuzzy Slippers</th>
      <td>Warm, cozy slippers...</td>
      <td>$19.99</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

</body>
</html>
3 Likes
#5

@Ray.H,

Yes, I thought about your suggestion, however I want the red arrow to appear to be outside of the visible table and pointing to the right, sort of like a “Hey, look at this row!!”

Something like this…

table w red arrow
table w red arrow1408×378 92.5 KB

What I came up with last night looks great, but I want my code to be semantically correct and to be accessible to screen-readers.

Any ideas how to accomplish both things without too much hassle?

#6

Hi,
Working from the html I used in my last post you can just set the pseudo :before element on the .arrow class only.

Then remove the arrow from the flow with absolute positioning and shift it left.

Screenshot_2

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Test Page</title>
<style>
table {
  margin: 1em 2em;
  border-collapse: collapse;
}
td, th {
  border: 1px solid #000;
  padding: 4px;
}
th[scope="row"] {
 text-align:left;
 background:#eee;
}
th.arrow::before {
  content:'\27A4';
  color: red;
  position: absolute;
  margin-left:-1.5em;
}
</style>

</head>
<body>

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th scope="col">Product</th>
      <th scope="col">Description</th>
      <th scope="col">Price</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>

  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <th scope="row">Men's Bathrobe</th>
      <td>Heavy, good for Winter...</td>
      <td>$35.99</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th class="arrow" scope="row">Fuzzy Slippers</th>
      <td>Warm, cozy slippers...</td>
      <td>$19.99</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

</body>
</html>
3 Likes
Style table row with TH + TD
#7

@Ray.H,

Just ran my code through the W3C Validator and the errors went away!

You are a genius!! :+1:

Thanks!!

(And I’m sure people with screen readers will appreciate the tweak.)

1 Like