Rows must sit inside the table or a row group

PDF/UA check TABLE_ROW_STRUCTURE · Tables · severity Medium · PDF/UA 8.2.5.26 Table

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Why it matters#

Rows must be properly placed in the table hierarchy. This enables screen readers to distinguish between header rows, body rows, and footer rows.

What you will see#

A TR element has a parent other than Table, THead, TBody or TFoot.

How to fix#

Move each TR element so its parent is a Table, THead, TBody, or TFoot element. Remove any intermediate wrapper elements between the table and its rows.

Step-by-step guide#

1. Open the Accessibility tags panel (View > Show/Hide > Side panels > Accessibility tags) and locate each flagged TR whose parent is not Table, THead, TBody, or TFoot.
2. If an intermediate wrapper (Div, Sect, P) sits between the Table and its rows, drag each TR up so it is a direct child of the Table or of the appropriate row group, then delete the emptied wrapper tag.
3. If the TR is outside any table entirely, find the Table it belongs to visually and drag it into position among the other rows, or wrap the orphan rows in a new Table element (right-click > New Tag > Table) if no Table exists.
4. If the document uses row groups, verify the THead, TBody, and TFoot elements are themselves direct children of Table and that each TR sits in the group matching its role (header rows in THead, data rows in TBody, footer rows in TFoot).
5. Keep the TR sequence in the tag tree identical to the visual top-to-bottom row order.
6. As a fallback for heavily broken tables, retag the region with All tools > Prepare for accessibility > Fix reading order (the Reading Order tool) > Table, which regenerates a clean Table > TR > TD hierarchy to refine.

Verify: Re-run the EQChecker scan and confirm TABLE_ROW_STRUCTURE passes. Expanding the table in the Accessibility tags panel should show every TR directly under Table, THead, TBody, or TFoot.

Note: Row groups are optional: TR directly under Table is fully valid. If you do use THead/TBody/TFoot, PDF/UA-2 8.2.5.26 additionally requires each row group to be regular and forbids cells spanning across row-group boundaries (see TABLE_REGULARITY).

WCAG success criteria#

1.3.1 Info and Relationships — Level A#

Structure and relationships conveyed visually (headings, lists, tables, labels, groups) must also be available programmatically.

Understanding 1.3.1

Standards#

This check contributes to the following standards:

PDF/UA WCAG A EN 301 549