Stripping tables in the Rich Content Editor without deleting their content

[TiffanyStull]

I'm working with an instructor who needs to migrate content from HTML pages created many years ago to Canvas.  These pages contain tables that were used for layout, and we're trying to remove them to improve accessibility.  However, they are quite complex with many cells, so editing the HTML directly takes a lot of work.

I've tried the editor options to remove the tables, but it deletes them.  I also looked for options in the Canvas accessibility checker and Anthology Ally's accessibility checker to remove layout tables, but could not find any.

I found this discussion: Removing table without removing the icons inside the table, where an HTML table remover is mentioned.  However, I'm afraid to recommend that the instructor enter his content into an insecure web page.

Short of copying/pasting all the content piecemeal without formatting, is anyone aware of a better way to remove tables in the editor?

[SusanNiemeyer · Accepted solution]

In all honesty, it might just be easier for the instructor to start with fresh pages. Messing with a lot of old HTML coding sounds like a nightmare. Personally, I would start anew and type in the information. They just need to bit the bullet and do it. Then, of course, it will be easy to import the content into new course shells in future semesters.

[SusanNiemeyer · Accepted solution]

In all honesty, it might just be easier for the instructor to start with fresh pages. Messing with a lot of old HTML coding sounds like a nightmare. Personally, I would start anew and type in the information. They just need to bit the bullet and do it. Then, of course, it will be easy to import the content into new course shells in future semesters.

[ProfessorBeyrer · Accepted solution]

Starting with a fresh page is one way to go. Another option, @TiffanyStull, is to edit the HTML view and remove the <table> tag at the beginning of the table. You'll end up with a concatenated collection of content that needs paragraph breaks between what formerly was in table cells, but it does save you from sharing data with a third party.

I made a silent video showing what this can look like: