Re: Layout Tables vs. Style Sheets

On Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:24:21 +0100, Patti Burke-Lund  
<pburkelund@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
> I am currently teaching a web design and management course
> that initially covers (X)HTML and style sheets without the use of a
> WYSIWYG.  This week we are learning
> about table markup and how it is good practice to design with style  
> sheets vs. layout
> tables (the text describes how nested tables of the past are now  
> discouraged
> due to both accessibility issues and not being semantically sound).

Hi Patti
In 1999, the web content accessibility guidelines said "Using markup  
improperly -- not according to specification -- hinders accessibility.  
Misusing markup for a presentation effect (e.g., using a table for layout  
or a header to change the font size) makes it difficult for users with  
specialized software to understand the organization of the page or to  
navigate through it."
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/

So for at least 9 years, table layouts have been "improper".

My employers, Opera, have published the Web Standards Curriculum, designed  
for use in universities and colleges. It's free, cross-browser and  
up-to-date. It's available here www.opera.com/wsc

bruce


Bruce Lawson
www.brucelawson.co.uk

"People who talk about revolution and class struggle without
referring explicitly to everyday life, without understanding what is
subversive about love and what is positive in the refusal of
constraints, such people have a corpse in their mouth."
-Raoul Vaneigem, "The Revolution Of Everyday Life"

Received on Tuesday, 7 October 2008 13:42:41 UTC