----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 12:36
PM
> The web is a visual medium and we should be able
to
> design pages to look how we want, with the condition of making sure
they are
> readable and suitable for those accessing them.
I
disagree. The web is an information medium. The most common way to
access that information is through a graphical "web browser". A visual
medium used to "browse" the information made available on the web (information
medium).
Good description, I concede
the point.
I rarely use a traditional, graphical web browser
anymore. I have my computer read my RSS feeds and email aloud to me
while I work and play games. I test pages I make in graphical browsers,
and post flamebait as anonymous coward on Slashdot. That's about
it.
I suggest you are in the
minority in your use of the web. Most people will use web browsers.
> For those of you who use a background image, how do
you get round the
> problem of the columns changing size? I hope you are
not using a fixed width
> layout (as many CSS column layouts do)!
;-)
*clicks my heels together three times and says "Column support in
CSS3? Column support in CSS3?"*
Lol. In which case the use of
tables is perhaps still justified?
> Final point I want to know is, in what way does a
table (a simple 1 row 2
> column table) actually cause any of the above
problems you mention? How does
> it hinder someone from viewing it on a
different device for example? How is
> it harder to update? I am not
talking about multiple nested tables.
Accessibility isn't just for
blind people. It's also for the most disabled users of all:
computers. Ever try to teach an HTML parsing script how to tell the
difference between a table of data and a layout table? If people would
just use semantic markup, it'd be as simple as "It's in a table element?
Must be tabular data. It's in a p element? Must be a
paragraph."
The point is however, that
when you create columns, with equal length, you are in essence creating a table
grid type layout for your information. Therefore the use of tables with their
columns makes sense, even appropriate?
When you create columns using
CSS, you are creating a table-like look, are you not? Is CSS3 going to reinvent
the wheel?
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