The “role” attribute must not be used on a “td” element which has a “table” ancestor with no “role” attribute, or with a “role” attribute whose value is “table”, “grid”, or “treegrid”.

A <td> inside a <table> with no role, or with a role of table, grid or treegrid, gets its ARIA role from the table and must not have a role attribute of its own.

Browsers map table cells automatically. In a plain table, or one with role="table", each <td> is exposed as a cell. In a table with role="grid" or role="treegrid", each <td> is exposed as a gridcell. The ARIA in HTML specification doesn't let authors set any role on these cells, so the validator rejects redundant values like role="cell" and role="gridcell" as well as roles that turn the cell into something else, such as role="button" or role="presentation".

Overriding a cell's role breaks the structure screen readers depend on. A <td> exposed as a button is no longer a cell, so assistive technology can't announce its row and column headers or reach it with table navigation commands.

To make a cell interactive, put a real control such as a <button> or an <a> inside the <td>. For layout tables, which are common in HTML email, set role="presentation" on the <table> instead of on each cell. Once the table has a role other than table, grid or treegrid, its cells lose their table semantics and the rule no longer applies.

Invalid examples

Data table

<table>
  <tr>
    <th>Name</th>
    <th>Actions</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td role="cell">Alice</td>
    <td role="button" tabindex="0">Edit</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Layout table

<table>
  <tr>
    <td role="presentation">Logo</td>
    <td role="presentation">Newsletter title</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Valid examples

Data table

<table>
  <tr>
    <th>Name</th>
    <th>Actions</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Alice</td>
    <td><button type="button">Edit</button></td>
  </tr>
</table>

Layout table

<table role="presentation">
  <tr>
    <td>Logo</td>
    <td>Newsletter title</td>
  </tr>
</table>

Learn more:

MDN Reference

HTML td element

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MDN Reference

ARIA cell role

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W3C Reference

ARIA in HTML specification

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