- From: Jason White <jasonw@ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au>
- Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1999 11:13:56 +1000 (AEST)
- To: WAI Markup Guidelines <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
I concur with Charles' proposal, with the following reservations: 1. The non-use of TH to convey presentational effects should have a priority 2 rating, as it provides a means whereby user agents can reliably distinguish data tables from layout tables, and also encourages the proper use of structural markup. 2. I would prefer the condition that tables be used for layout only until style sheet positioning is adequately supported, to be explicitly stated in the checkpoint, thus making it time dependent. Eric's proposal is to similar effect. I would emphasize however that the inclusion of proper structural markup is a priority 2 requirement. The inability to determine the structure of a document (headings, lists, paragraphs, etc.) is a major access barrier, as it means that the said structure will be evident in a visual setting (due to the presentational markup comprised by the layout tables) but but not in an auditory or braille setting; in this fundamentally undermines the concept of equal access to the document. Access (at more than the minimum threshhold level established by the "A" rating) involves access not only to the text, but also to the structural and semantic distinctions communicated by the formatting. Thus, the structural markup is needed, at a priority 2 level, to ensure that appropriate auditory/braille/handheld-device formatting can be provided by the user agent, with the aid, where possible, of style sheets.
Received on Friday, 16 April 1999 21:14:03 UTC