Couldn't agree more, Kym. Be practical with the constraints of our standards. Of course it is *possible* to build a perfect 3 column layout in CSS exactly as you want it -- but at what cost in terms of time and complexity. You end up catering for all browsers by incorporating kludges and fixes which may do the job legitimately but I reiterate: what's the point?
We're all aware the ideal situation is the proper estrangement of form and content and correct semantic markup. But until we have the tools to perform these tasks in CSS and, importantly, the browsers developers incorporate them, we should serve the best development we can to our clients and our audience, and if this means a hybrid design which renders with stability then we are doing a good job. Mike Pepper Table-less Developer (When Appropriate) http://www.seowebsitepromotion.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Kym Kovan Sent: 28 May 2004 10:59 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [WSG] Hi all, I've seen words to this affect quoted several times recently: >Tables are for tabular data only, and I agree with that philosophically but what is tabular data? To me the third option from Chris: >I would like to see a third version that uses a combination of the two, the best of each method merged.. The Hybrid Approach. is very legitimate. There was a discussion recently where making a 3 column page using a bare table to create the 3 columns was suggested as 3 column layouts that are truly functional across all browsers is very hard to do, and that suggestion was decried by some as not fitting "the webstandards morality". I feel that 3 columns of content _is_ "tabular" and as such is ethically tolerable. Widening the scope of the topic a bit I also ponder the complex use of CSS to create workable layouts across all browsers, divs inside "container" divs and kludges everywhere, etc., as you often end up with a mess of divs that are just as hard to work through as tables and the accessibility, from, say, a screen-reader's perspective, is often no better than a table-based design. Using the 3 column example I mentioned earlier a single 3 column table holding the column content exactly as you want it (if I remember correctly the earlier discussion was about a layout with a fixed width RH column for news and proportional for the left and centre columns) is a lot less messy than the equivalent in pure CSS. Shouldn't that be the way to go? I'm for accessible hybrids :-) -- Yours, Kym ***************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help ***************************************************** ***************************************************** The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/ See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm for some hints on posting to the list & getting help *****************************************************
