* Mikey <frak@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>: > I have just come back from the client visit and one of the issues that > arose was over the use of accessible markup, more specifically the use > of tables versus the use of layers. > > Now, my long held belief was that div/layers were added to the spec so > that designers could separate presentation markup from content - that > is, use positioned layers for laying out content, use tables for > tables of data as they were originally intended. However, my client > seemed adamant that it was the other way around and that the use of > tables was preferred owing to browser compatibility issues. > > Now, I have just had a look around w3 and have found some inferences > that support my view but nothing that states clearly in either > direction. Does anyone on this list have a definitive answer for this > one? You have it correct, theoretically, regarding accessibility. Tables should be used for tabular data, divs for presentation and layout. However, many people confuse accessibility with consistency; they want a look-and-feel that works the same no matter what the browser. (Why they feel this is accessibility is anybody's guess, but I've seen it a number of times). In this latter arena, on a practical level, tables are typically your best bet. I've done a lot of tableless and table-based layouts, and the unfortunate fact of the matter is it's a lot easier to create a layout that is consistent cross-browser and cross-platform using tables. Until IE supports the CSS2 'display: table-*' elements (which is the easiest way of creating columns of the same height), this will continue to be the case. Now, this does not mean you should create a bunch of nested tables for the layout. I find that a simple skeleton made of a table with a few columns can create the basic page layout, and then I use as much CSS as I can within (unordered lists for navigation menus, floats to position image/caption pairs, etc.). This combines some of the best of both worlds, and creates a fairly accessible page at the same time. As in all things, it's a matter of balance. -- Matthew Weier O'Phinney | WEBSITES: Webmaster and IT Specialist | http://www.garden.org National Gardening Association | http://www.kidsgardening.com 802-863-5251 x156 | http://nationalgardenmonth.org mailto:matthew@xxxxxxxxxx | http://vermontbotanical.org -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
