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Caption and title

HTML course · Beginner · Lesson 44/68

Add a title to a table with <caption> to improve accessibility.

The caption element

To give a table a title you use the <caption> tag. This tag describes what the table is about in one short sentence: 'Monthly Sales', 'Class List' and so on.

The <caption> tag is written right after the <table> opening, before any other tag. The browser shows this title above the table. Screen-reader users hear the title before the table, so they are prepared for the content.

A captioned table example

A captioned price list looks like this:

<table>
  <caption>Coffee Menu</caption>
  <tr>
    <th scope="col">Drink</th>
    <th scope="col">Price</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Espresso</td>
    <td>25 TL</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Here the title appears as a single line above the table. Adding a <caption> to every table is a good accessibility habit.

Exercise Write a captioned table

Add a <table> to body. Right after the <table> opening, write a <caption> title (for example Monthly Sales). Then add at least one <tr> row containing a <th> and a <td> (for example January / 5000 TL).

Show example solution 
<body>
  <table>
    <caption>Monthly Sales</caption>
    <tr>
      <th scope="col">Month</th>
      <th scope="col">Amount</th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>January</td>
      <td>5000 TL</td>
    </tr>
  </table>
</body>

Test yourself

  1. Where is <caption> written in a table?

    • Right after <table>, before everything else
    • Right before <table>
    • At the very end, before </table>
    • Inside every <tr>
    Show answer

    Right after <table>, before everything else — Correct. caption goes right after the <table> opening, before any row.

  2. Open the table title

    <table>
  ____>Price List</caption>
  <tr><td>Coffee</td><td>20 TL</td></tr>
</table>
    Show answer 
    <table>
  <caption>Price List</caption>
  <tr><td>Coffee</td><td>20 TL</td></tr>
</table>

  3. Match each tag to its role

    <caption>
    Title describing the table
    <table>
    Table container
    <th>
    Column header cell
    <tr>
    Row

All lessons in Beginner

1 Document basics

  1. What is HTML?
  2. The document skeleton
  3. Head and meta tags
  4. Title and language
  5. Comments and readability
  6. Summary - My first HTML page

2 Text content

  1. Headings: h1–h6
  2. Paragraphs
  3. Line break and horizontal rule
  4. Emphasis and important text
  5. Quotations and sources
  6. Summary - Article page

3 Project: About me page

  1. Project: About me page
  2. Skeleton and title
  3. Introductory text
  4. Emphasis and separation
  5. Project final - About me

4 Links and navigation

  1. Anchor links
  2. Absolute and relative URLs
  3. In-page links
  4. Link targets
  5. Email and phone links
  6. Summary - Navigation menu

5 Lists

  1. Unordered lists
  2. Ordered lists
  3. Description lists
  4. Nested lists
  5. Links in list items
  6. Summary - Table of contents

6 Project: Business card page

  1. Project: Business card page
  2. Name and title
  3. Contact list
  4. Skills and links
  5. Project final - Business card

7 Images and media

  1. Adding images
  2. Image dimensions
  3. Figure and figcaption
  4. Audio and video
  5. Alternative sources
  6. Summary - Media gallery

8 Intro to tables

  1. Table skeleton
  2. Header cells
  3. Table sections
  4. Caption and title
  5. Cell spanning
  6. Summary - Class schedule table

9 Project: Recipe page

  1. Project: Recipe page
  2. Recipe title and summary
  3. Ingredient list
  4. Steps and baking table
  5. Project final - Recipe page

10 Intro to forms

  1. Form skeleton
  2. Labelled input
  3. Input types
  4. Textarea and button
  5. Selection fields
  6. Summary - Feedback form

11 Intro to semantic tags

  1. Why semantic tags matter
  2. Header and footer
  3. Nav and main
  4. Article and section
  5. Aside and address
  6. Summary - Semantic blog skeleton

12 Beginner final

  1. Challenge - Document skeleton
  2. Challenge - Text and links
  3. Challenge - Lists and tables
  4. Challenge - Form and semantic structure
  5. Challenge - Beginner capstone