table-duplicate-name
Table caption must not duplicate its summary attribute
Checks that a <table>'s <caption> text is not identical to its (deprecated) summary attribute.
Applies to. Applies to <table> elements that have both a <caption> with text content and a (deprecated but still encountered) summary attribute.
Expectation. The caption text and the summary attribute text are not identical (case-insensitive, normalized). When both are present and say the same thing, assistive technology that surfaces both announces the same text twice for one table.
Examples
<table summary="Sales data"><caption>Sales data</caption><tr><td>1</td></tr></table>
The summary attribute repeats the caption text word for word instead of adding anything new.
<table summary="Data collected in fiscal year 2025"><caption>Sales data</caption><tr><td>1</td></tr></table>
summary provides information the caption doesn't.
How to check
When this rule can’t decide, it reports cantTell and leaves the question to a person. Each question it can ask is listed here under its reason code, with the steps to answer it. A finding carries the same steps as howToCheck, in the scan’s language. See Output schema.
TABLE_CAPTION_SUMMARY_DUPLICATE
- Find the table the report names and read its caption and its summary attribute in the page source.
- Move to the table with a screen reader and listen to what is announced as it starts.
- Note whether the same text is read twice.
Pass. The table's title is announced once, and the summary (if kept) adds different information, such as how the table is laid out.
Fail. The same text is read twice because caption and summary repeat each other (best practice, H39); remove the summary or make it say something else.