Re: table usage (was Re: text on graphics?)

Abigail writes in <199605111602.SAA21912@tungsten.gn.iaf.nl>:
>Walter Ian Kaye wrote:
>++ If "<table>s were designed for tabular data", then ROWSPAN and COLSPAN
>++ would not be allowed. These attributes are in direct contradiction to
>++ your view of what is "appropriate" for <table>s. Do you favor 
deprecation
>++ of these attributes?
>
>I fail to see why rowspan and colspan contradict that tables are for
>tabular data.
>The first example of the latest table draft seems perfectly valid to me.

I look at tables as methods for grouping data where the spatial relationship 
between the data implies some other kind of relationship between the data. 
 This can be applied to <FORM> design (where a well-placed table with 
BORDER=0 can produce a nice visual effect), as the spatial relationship 
implies the relationship between <FORM> elements and their labels.

Remember, just because someone is blind does not mean they will have no 
concept of spatial relationships; they cannot even walk around safely 
without a mental model of where objects are in a space.  Tables are row by 
column (spatial) groupings of data.
======================================================================
Mark Leighton Fisher                   Thomson Consumer Electronics
fisherm@indy.tce.com                   Indianapolis, IN

Received on Tuesday, 14 May 1996 07:19:18 UTC