Re: Complex Table Examples

Another id/header example "in the wild":

-- Michael Leikam <mleikam@csulb.edu> wrote:

> here is one place where I'm using two complex tables with
> id/headers:
http://daf.csulb.edu/printshop/copying.html
>
> Frankly, they're a pain in the ass and I advise avoiding them wherever
> possible.  Besides, most tables benefit greatly in terms of usability
> from being simplified.  In the vast majority of cases, complex tables
> are an anachronistic carryover from the print world where space is at
> a premium and display functionality is absent.
>
> However, if colspan/rowspan are in the spec and supported by user
> agents, people will build complex data tables and there must be some
> way to make them accessible.  Do those who oppose ids/headers have
> any ideas on how a screen reader should parse an arbitrarily complex
> table?  If there's a better alternative out there, I'd like to hear
> it.  In many cases, it's possible to guess correctly with a
> relatively simple heuristic, but I'd hope HTML5 is a bit more robust
> than that.

Laura

Received on Wednesday, 23 May 2007 12:36:34 UTC