Re: A table navigation technique

> Hi,
> Here are a few reasons I've come up with for making table serialization
> a priority 1 item.

I think we need to define more precisely what we mean by table
linearization.

Off http://wwww.w3.org/WAI/ER/WG, there are some notes
on configuration for table linearization that address the proxy tool
but are also applicable for native browser.


Basically, good table linearization needs to support control for
   - orientation (row, column, markup)
   - repetition (none, header, cell)
   - interaction (none, row/column, cell, search)

Examples of output, for the table:

<TABLE border=1 summary="une chose a preciser">
<CAPTION ALIGN=TOP>Temperature in some French towns</CAPTION>
<TR><TH colspan="3" rowspan="2"><TH colspan=4 scope="colgroup">Month
<TR><TH>January<TH>February<TH>March<TH>April
<TR><TH rowspan=4 scope="rowgroup">Ville
<TH rowspan=2 scope="rowgroup">South
<TH scope="row">Nice<TD>13<TD>14<TD>15<TD>16
<TR><TH scope="row">Cannes<TD>14<TD>15<TD>16<TD>17
<TR><TH rowspan=2 scope="row">North
<TH scope="rowgroup">Paris<TD>5<TD>6<TD>7<TD>8 
<TR><TH scope="row">Lille<TD>-3<TD>-2<TD>-1<TD>0
</TABLE>



Orientation: row
Repeat: All headers for each cell 

Ville, South, Nice, Month, January: 13,  
Ville, South, Nice, Month, February: 14,  
Ville, South, Nice, Month, March: 15,  
Ville, South, Nice, Month, April: 16
Ville, South, Cannes, Month, January: 14,  
Ville, South, Cannes, Month, February: 15,  
Ville, South, Cannes, Month, March: 16

or

Orientation: column
Repeat: Deepest header for each cell

Data:
January, Nice: 13
January, Cannes: 14
January, Paris: 5
January, Lille: -3
February, Nice: 14
...

or

Orientation: row
Repeat: Deepest header for each row

January/February/March/April
 Other (not used) Row header names: Ville, South/North

Nice: 13, 14, 15, 16
Cannes: 14, 15, 16, 17
...

or

Orientation: markup
Repeat: Not applicable


Month
January February March April
Ville South Nice: 13, 14, 15, 16
Cannes: 14, 15, 16, 17
North Paris: 5, 6, 7, 8
Lille: -3, -2, -1, 0


etc


=============

So which level of configuration should mainstream browser support ?

Lynx just supports Markup, which means ignoring the table markup really.

Received on Monday, 16 November 1998 21:19:59 UTC