Working with a table

When working in Microsoft Word, simple tables can be used to organize information and make it easier to read. Keep in mind that tables should be used to present data and not for layout or design purposes.

While tables can help organize your information, they are not always accessible to readers who utilize a screen reader. It is important to keep your table simple and to include descriptive headers and alternative text.

The following files are available for download:

Download Exercise Files

Learn more about using exercise files.

Inserting a table

Let's insert a table showing the 5 largest LEGO sets. This table will include a header row and a row for each LEGO set. The table will have two columns - one for the name of the set and one for the number of pieces in the set. We'll put this table at the end of the document text between the Ten Product Characteristics list and the Sources.

To move the cursor,
Click before the word Sources
To insert a new line, on the keyboard, press:
Enter key
To move the cursor up to the blank line, on the keyboard, press:
Up arrow key

To add a section heading, type:
Largest LEGO Sets Enter key
To format the text as a heading, on the Home tab, if necessary,
Click inside the heading text, Click

To position the cursor where we want to add the table, on the keyboard, press:
Down arrow key
Move the the Insert tab on the ribbon.
To see the table options, on the Insert tab,
Click
To insert a 2x6 table, in the Insert Table menu,
Press & drag two squares across and six squares down, as shown in the following image:

Adding content to the table

A blank 2x6 table is inserted into the document. By default the table cells have borders and the columns are the same width. This formatting can be modified. Before adjusting these details, let's add content to the table. We will begin with the header row.

To place the cursor in the first cell of the table,
Click in the first cell
To add the first header, type:
LEGO Set
To move to the next cell, on the keyboard, press:
Tab key

To add the second header, type:
Number of pieces
To move to the next cell, on the keyboard, press:
Tab key

The cursor should be in the first cell of the second row. Let's add the names of the LEGO sets and the number of pieces to the table now.

To add text to the first cell in the second row of the table, type:
LEGO Art World Map Tab key
To add text to the second cell in the second row of the table, type:
11,695
To move to the third row of the table, on the keyboard, press:
Tab key

To add the text to the third row, type:
LEGO Eiffel Tower Tab key 10,001 Tab key
To add the text to the fourth row, type:
LEGO Titanic Tab key 9,090 Tab key
To add the text to the fifth row, type:
LEGO Colosseum Tab key 9,036 Tab key
To add the text to the sixth row, type:
UCS LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon Tab key 7,541

Formatting a table

Now that the content has been correctly entered into the table, let's take some time to format the table. We will adjust the first row to be a bit more obviously a header. We will also change the widths of the columns to better fit the text. Finally, we will center the text in the second column.

To select the table text,
Press & Drag from LEGO Set to 7,541
Move to the Home tab on the ribbon.
To change the font, on the Home tab of the ribbon,
Click the current font, Click Calibri
To change the font size, on the Home tab,
Click the current font size, Click 12
To deselect the text,
Click in a blank area of the document

To select the text in the header row,
Press & Drag from "LEGO set" to "pieces"
To make the text bold, on the ribbon,
Click
To make the text larger, on the ribbon,
Click , Click 14
Deselect the text.

To correctly position the cursor, in the table,
Point to the right border of the first column

The cursor looks like this:

Image of the cursor on the right border of the column. The cursor has both a left and a right arrow.

To move the right border of the column,
Press & Drag the border to the right until the border is at the 4-inch mark on the ruler

To select the text in the second column,
Press & Drag down from "Number of pieces" to 7,541
To center the text, on the ribbon,
Click
Deselect the text.

To see the Select Table tool,
Point to the table
To select the entire table, above the left corner of the table,
Click
Move to the Table Design tab on the ribbon.
To remove the border lines, on the Table Design tab,
Click , Click No Border
Deselect the table.

The table should look similar to this:

The finished table

If your table is displaying on multiple pages, we will fix this in the next section.

Adding alternative text

Graphics used in Microsoft Word, including tables, charts, and images, should be given alternative text that can be read by screen reading software. This is especially important when the graphic contains information that is essential to the understanding of the document.

Alternative text should give a concise, accurate description of the graphic. Alt text for a table should be a description of the table, but does not need to include the contents of the table. Screen reading software will read the table's contents.

We'll add alt text to the table through the Table Properties dialog box.

To open the Table Properties dialog box,
Right-Click the table, Click Table Properties...

The Table Properties dialog box opens:

Table Properties dialog box. Contents described in the following paragraph.

This dialog box has five tabs: Table, Row, Column, Cell, and Alt Text. We will work on the Alt Text tab.

To move to the Alt Text tab, in the Table Properties dialog box,
Click the Alt Text tab

To add alt text, in the Description field, type:
Table describing the number of pieces for the five largest LEGO sets.
To accept the changes we've made,
Click

There is no noticable change, but the alt text has been added. When screen reading software encounters the table, the alternative text will be read before the contents of the table are read.

To save the document, on the keyboard, press:
Control key + S

Working with a table

Inserting a table

Step 1. Insert a new line between the list of product characteristics and the sources.

Step 2. Add a section heading.

Step 3. Add a 2x6 table.

Adding content to the table

Step 1. Add the text "LEGO Set" to the first cell.

Step 2. Add the text "Number of pieces" to the second cell in the header row.

Step 3. Add the text to the second row of table.

Step 4. Add the remaining text to the table.

Formatting a table

Step 1. Format the table text to be Calibri 12 pt font.

Step 2. Format the header row to be bold and 14 pt font.

Step 3. Adjust the column widths to better fit the text.

Step 4. Center the text in the second column.

Step 5. Remove the border lines from the table.

Adding alternative text

Step 1. Open the Table Properties dialog box.

Step 2. Move to the Alt Text tab.

Step 3. Add alternative text to the table.

Step 4. Save the document.