spec/Overview.html 1.2037 2866 Make it clear that layout tables are wro

Make it clear that layout tables are wrong. Suggest that tools use
heuristics to detect them anyway. Allows browsers to use the summary=''
attribute. (whatwg r2866)

HTMLTableElement
http://people.w3.org/mike/diffs/html5/spec/Overview.1.2037.html#htmltableelement
caption
http://people.w3.org/mike/diffs/html5/spec/Overview.1.2037.html#dom-table-caption

http://people.w3.org/mike/diffs/html5/spec/Overview.diff.html
http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/html5/spec/Overview.html?r1=1.2036&r2=1.2037&f=h
http://html5.org/tools/web-apps-tracker?from=2865&to=2866

===================================================================
RCS file: /sources/public/html5/spec/Overview.html,v
retrieving revision 1.2036
retrieving revision 1.2037
diff -u -d -r1.2036 -r1.2037
--- Overview.html 24 Feb 2009 02:29:48 -0000 1.2036
+++ Overview.html 24 Feb 2009 02:49:30 -0000 1.2037
@@ -18602,9 +18602,21 @@
 };</pre>
    </dd>
   </dl><p>The <code><a href=#the-table-element>table</a></code> element <a href=#represents>represents</a> data with
-  more than one dimension, in the form of a <a href=#concept-table title=concept-table>table</a>.<p class=XXX>we need some editorial text on how layout
-  tables are bad practice and non-conforming<p>The <code><a href=#the-table-element>table</a></code> element takes part in the <a href=#table-model>table
-  model</a>.<p>The <dfn id=dom-table-caption title=dom-table-caption><code>caption</code></dfn> DOM
+  more than one dimension, in the form of a <a href=#concept-table title=concept-table>table</a>.<p>The <code><a href=#the-table-element>table</a></code> element takes part in the <a href=#table-model>table
+  model</a>.<p>Tables must not be used as layout aids. Historically, some Web
+  authors have misused tables in HTML as a way to control their page
+  layout. This usage is non-conforming, because tools attempting to
+  extract tabular data from such documents would obtain very confusing
+  results. In particular, users of accessibility tools like screen
+  readers are likely to find it very difficult to navigate pages with
+  tables used for layout.<p class=note>There are a variety of alternatives to using HTML
+  tables for layout, primarily using CSS positioning and CSS
+  tables.<p>User agents that do table analysis on arbitrary content are
+  encouraged to find heuristics to determine which tables actually
+  contain data and which are merely being used for layout. This
+  specification does not define a precise heuristic.<p>If a <code><a href=#the-table-element>table</a></code> element has a <code title=attr-table-summary>summary</code> attribute, the user agent
+  may report the contents of that attribute to the user.<p class=note>Authors are encouraged to use the
+  <code><a href=#the-caption-element>caption</a></code> element instead of the <code title=attr-table-summary>summary</code> attribute.<p>The <dfn id=dom-table-caption title=dom-table-caption><code>caption</code></dfn> DOM
   attribute must return, on getting, the first <code><a href=#the-caption-element>caption</a></code>
   element child of the <code><a href=#the-table-element>table</a></code> element, if any, or null
   otherwise. On setting, if the new value is a <code><a href=#the-caption-element>caption</a></code>

Received on Tuesday, 24 February 2009 02:53:09 UTC