[Libreoffice-bugs] [Bug 40457] New: Make table captions above tables the default option [accessibility]

[bugzilla-daemon at freedesktop.org]

https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=40457

           Summary: Make table captions above tables the default option
                    [accessibility]
           Product: LibreOffice
           Version: LibO 3.3.1 release
          Platform: Other
        OS/Version: Windows (All)
            Status: NEW
          Severity: enhancement
          Priority: medium
         Component: Writer
        AssignedTo: libreoffice-bugs at lists.freedesktop.org
        ReportedBy: christophe.strobbe at esat.kuleuven.be


When adding a caption to a table in Writer, the current behaviour is as
follows:
1. Create a table;
2. Right-click on the table or press Shit+F10 to open its context menu and
select "Caption..."
3. The default value for "Position" is "Below".

The desired behaviour is:
1. Create a table;
2. Right-click on the table or press Shit+F10 to open its context menu and
select "Caption..."
3. The default value for "Position" is "Above".

The reason for this is accessibility for users with disabilities, especially
blind users (who typically use a screen reader) and other users of
text-to-speech software (e.g. some users with dyslexia). A sighted user can
easily locate a caption visually when it is below the table (if the table is
short), but when using text-to-speech software, users read from top to bottom
and encounter the table before the caption. It does not make much sense to hear
the announcement (in the caption) for the table after the table itself. 
For sighted users, captions for long tables (especially tables that are longer
than a screen or that flow onto the next page) make more sense when above the
table.
So it would be a good idea to make "Above" the default option.

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