Table reading order in right-to-left languages

[Peter Desjardins <peter.desjardins.us@gmail.com>]

Hi, I am writing a customization to add HTML table cell attributes for
accessibility. Specifically, I am trying to write some logical rules
for associating body cells with header cells. Some of the logic I am
considering depends on the column sequence number.

I assume that the columns in a table used in a right-to-left language
would be ordered sequentially from the right to the left. Can anyone
confirm or deny that?

Is there any markup for DocBook 5.0 tables that establishes the
direction of the column sequence? Or are the DocBook tables designed
in a way so that direction is irrelevant?  I see some documentation in
the Definitive Guide for CALS tables that seems say that the first
column is assumed to be the one on the far left.

Thanks for your help.

Peter