How to fix empty table header on WooCommerce

Steps for WooCommerce

1. In your WordPress Admin, go to Appearance → Theme File Editor (or use a child theme via FTP/SFTP).
2. Search your active (child) theme's template files — especially woocommerce/templates/single-product/tabs/ and any comparison plugin templates — for empty `<th>` tags.
3. If the empty header comes from a plugin (e.g., WooCommerce Product Table, YITH WooCommerce Compare), check that plugin's settings for a 'column header' or 'label' field before editing code.
4. Add visible text or an `aria-label` to each empty `<th>` found, then save.
5. Alternatively install the 'WP Accessibility' plugin (by Joe Dolson) which flags and sometimes auto-fixes empty header cells.
6. Verify with axe DevTools in your browser.

What is empty table header?

A table header (`<th>`) is the label that explains what the data in a column or row means — like "Product Name," "Price," or "Quantity." When a `<th>` element exists in your HTML but contains no text (or only invisible content), screen readers announce it as blank, leaving blind and low-vision shoppers with no idea what that column or row is about. This is an accessibility failure under WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.3.1 (Info and Relationships) and 4.1.2 (Name, Role, Value). Empty table headers most commonly appear in comparison tables, product specification tables, pricing grids, and order-history tables on ecommerce sites.

Screen reader users — a significant portion of shoppers with visual impairments — rely entirely on table headers to navigate data tables. An empty header makes a table incomprehensible and can force them to abandon your product comparison or checkout entirely, costing you conversions. In many jurisdictions (USA under ADA, EU under EAA, UK under PSED) inaccessible websites expose businesses to legal complaints and lawsuits; accessibility litigation has been rising sharply year over year. Fixing this issue also signals to Google's crawlers that your page structure is well-formed, which can modestly support your organic rankings.

See the complete Empty table header guide for every platform and the full background.