Table has empty rows

Why it matters

Empty rows are usually left over from editing, or added to make space between groups of rows. Sighted visitors skip past them, but screen readers still count them in the row total and announce "blank" for every cell, which makes the table longer and harder to follow.

Who it affects: Screen reader users, who hear the header for each cell as they move through a table.

What Lumtera flags

Tables with one or more rows in which every cell is empty — no text, and no image, icon, form field, button, embed or media. Each table is reported once, with the number of empty rows. Tables marked role="presentation", and tables that are empty throughout (a placeholder not yet filled in), are skipped.

Check ID table-empty-row — use it to filter the content report or with wp lumtera issues --rule.

How to fix it in WordPress

Delete the empty rows: click into a cell of the row and choose Delete row from the Table block toolbar. To add space between rows, use the table's styles instead of blank rows.

Example

<tr><td>Personal</td><td>$149</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>Agency</td><td>$399</td></tr>

<tr><td>Personal</td><td>$149</td></tr>
<tr><td>Agency</td><td>$399</td></tr>

How to check your fix

1. Update the post. The issue disappears from the Accessibility sidebar on the next check, and from the site report on the next scan.
2. With a screen reader, move cell by cell (VoiceOver: Ctrl + Option + arrow keys). Each value should be announced with its column or row header.