The <caption> Element
As defined in the HTML Living Standard, the <caption> element represents the title of the table that is its parent.
| Quarter | Revenue |
|---|---|
| Q1 | $1.2M |
| Q2 | $1.5M |
<table>
<caption>Quarterly Revenue Data (2025)</caption>
<thead>...</thead>
</table>
View HTML Living Standard: The caption element
Technical Requirements & Placement
- First Child: The
<caption>element must be the first child of its parent<table>element. - One per Table: A table must not contain more than one caption.
- Contextual Relevance: The text should provide a concise title that describes the nature of the data within the table.
WCAG Requirement: Info and Relationships
Success Criterion 1.3.1 (Level A): Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined.
Screen readers announce the caption when a user enters a table. This provides immediate context, allowing users to decide if they need to explore the data. Without a <caption>, a blind user might have to read several cells before understanding what the table represents.
Caption vs. Summary
In older versions of HTML, the summary attribute was used to provide a description of the table's structure. In the current HTML Living Standard, the summary attribute is obsolete.
A11y Tip: Detailed Descriptions
If a table needs a more detailed description than a simple title, you can include that information within the <caption> element itself, or wrap the table in a <figure> and use a <figcaption>.