- From: Ilya Streltsyn via GitHub <sysbot+gh@w3.org>
- Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2019 13:41:00 +0000
- To: public-css-archive@w3.org
I have a strong feeling that distinguishing data tables from layout table is a special, largely historical, exceptional case, that should be not generalized as a rule. Tables were used for layout when there were effectively no alternative. Tables are probably the only HTML elements misused this way because of their default styling. There never were such thing as "Layout lists" or something. The "HTML is meaning, CSS is presentation" mantra is one of the first things that modern web developers learn. Many web developers try hard to make their markup meaningful for non-visual output (e.g. wrapping navigation links into list items) while presenting it visually as design requires (e.g. as a horizontal flexbox "ribbon"). When browsers deduce from this that the author "[didn't mean](https://www.scottohara.me/blog/2019/01/12/lists-and-safari.html)" a list there, it feels like a huge disappointment with the very idea of the semantic markup (at least, I felt so). I admit that there definitely might be other special cases where styling distorts the initial meaning of elements for sighted users and ATs have to convey this distortion, but they should probably be investigated and specified individually. The general rule should be that CSS doesn't affect the implied meaning of the content unless there is an absolute and consensus-approved necessity to do so. Similarly to what we have already decided in [#2355](2355#issuecomment-375084853). -- GitHub Notification of comment by SelenIT Please view or discuss this issue at https://github.com/w3c/csswg-drafts/issues/3596#issuecomment-460641237 using your GitHub account
Received on Tuesday, 5 February 2019 13:41:36 UTC