Use the BaseDataList.UseAccessibleHeader property to specify whether the data listing control renders its header in an accessible format. This property is provided to make the control more accessible to users of assistive technology devices. By default, the value of this property is false and the header for the control is rendered between cell tags <td> and </td>. If the value of this property is true, the header for the control is rendered between table header cell tags <th> and </th>. In addition, a scope="col" attribute is added to the table header to specify that the header applies to all the cells in the column. The default rendering of the <th> element is preserved, rendering text as bold and centered horizontally. Developers can override the behavior of the <th> element using a cascading style sheet (CSS). However, requiring the use of style sheets is discouraged when creating accessible Web pages.

For data listing controls, such as the System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataList control and the System.Web.UI.WebControls.DataGrid control, that inherit from the System.Web.UI.WebControls.BaseDataList class, you can set the BaseDataList.UseAccessibleHeader property declaratively or programmatically. If you set the BaseDataList.UseAccessibleHeader property programmatically, set it before binding data with the BaseDataList.DataBind method.