- From: Jon Gunderson <jongund@staff.uiuc.edu>
- Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1999 23:03:50 -0500
- To: WAI Markup Guidelines <w3c-wai-gl@w3.org>
I would like to see a stronger statement of Priority 1 for proper use of TD and TH. Based on the current Web Content guidelines this is really the only information currently available to user agents for determining whether a table is being used for layout or tabular data. Without this information user agents need to play a guessing game on what a table is being used for. Jon At 11:13 AM 4/17/99 +1000, Jason White wrote: >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. > Jon Gunderson, Ph.D., ATP Coordinator of Assistive Communication and Information Technology Division of Rehabilitation - Education Services University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign 1207 S. Oak Street Champaign, IL 61820 Voice: 217-244-5870 Fax: 217-333-0248 E-mail: jongund@uiuc.edu WWW: http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~jongund http://www.als.uiuc.edu/InfoTechAccess
Received on Monday, 19 April 1999 12:01:32 UTC