Why do we (web
developers) use tables??? Yes they make for fantastic
designs and organized websites but they are not for
this purpose. A table should be used for TABULAR DATA
not design and layout. That being said, I have sworn
off tables and replaced them with the almighty div tag
and CSS.
In the good old days you had no option but to use tables
if you wanted to give an impressive presentation on
your website. Along came CSS a designer's best friend.
There is no web layout that you can create with a table
that can not be duplicated with CSS.
"But using CSS to design my website is too complicated"
I have heard this to many times in the span of my career.
You can learn how to properly use CSS in less time than
it took you to figure out how to nest a table inside
of table, inside of table... In future articles I will
explain how to properly use CSS, for now we will stick
with why you should use CSS.
Content and Design should always be separated. We have
all heard this a million times but why do we not listen.
The benefits to building a website following this method
are proven.
1. Search Engines: I have redesigned many websites
eliminating tables and placing all links in unordered
lists and have seen there search engine rankings improve
drastically.
2. Compatibility: Remember that in today's day and
age websites are being viewed on everything from 60
inch plasma TV's to 3 inch cell phone screens. If you
assign a table a width of 780 it becomes near impossible
for visitor using a handheld device to view your website.
3. Accessibility: People with disabilities have the
right to enjoy the web! If your website uses tables
a visitor using an audio browser is going to have trouble
accessing your website. Go ahead and try to use your
website with and audio browser...
I hope this article gets you started on your way to
becoming a Web Standards Developer. There are a million
reasons to "Do it the right way" and these were just
a few, for more information visit the w3.org.
John Harris is the CDO (Chief Design Officer) and a
founding member of Appeal Web Design.
http://www.appealwebdesign.com/
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