According to Trusted Tester, what makes a layout table?

• A. The table uses CSS grid
• B. The table has a border
• C. The table uses semantic headers
• D. The table has attribute <table role="presentation"> AND the AT output is blank

Answer: (D)

Layout tables are used for visual arrangement, not to convey data. In Trusted Tester terms, a table becomes a layout table when it’s marked so that assistive technologies ignore its structure and content. The essential signal is setting the table to presentational (for example, role="presentation" or role="none"). When AT output for that table is blank, it confirms the table isn’t intended to convey information to the user. That’s why this choice is correct: it directly uses a presentational role and yields no AT output, indicating a layout-only table. The other options don’t achieve this: CSS grid is a layout technique but doesn’t redefine the table’s semantics; a border is just styling; semantic headers imply real tabular data, not a layout table.