Table Summary Attribute

[ProfessorPrint]

I was reading somewhere that I need <table summary="...."> where the summary attribute explains what the table is for... to provide accessibility to users that can't see tables.

So I went ahead and did it, but frankly this seems to just add file size to the page with extra uneeded text. Is there any real value to the "summary" attribute?

[Webnauts]

When a table is more complicated, Web authors are encouraged to use the summary attribute of the TABLE element. This, like the longdesc attribute for images, is not represented visually. It is rendered from the HTML code by assistive technology like screen readers and talking browsers.

The summary attribute should contain, as its name suggests, a summary of what the table presents.

With a summary, a blind person using a screen reader (which supports the summary attribute) will have an overview of the table before he starts to read it.