Bugzilla – Bug 535
Make it clear that layout tables are wrong. Suggest that tools use heuristics to detect them anyway. Allows browsers to use the summary='' attribute.
Last modified: 2009-05-27 14:32:55 CEST
Index: source =================================================================== --- source (revision 2865) +++ source (revision 2866) @@ -25191,12 +25191,34 @@ more than one dimension, in the form of a <span title="concept-table">table</span>.</p> - <p class="XXX">we need some editorial text on how layout - tables are bad practice and non-conforming</p> - <p>The <code>table</code> element takes part in the <span>table model</span>.</p> + <p>Tables must not be used as layout aids. Historically, some Web + authors have misused tables in HTML as a way to control their page + layout. This usage is non-conforming, because tools attempting to + extract tabular data from such documents would obtain very confusing + results. In particular, users of accessibility tools like screen + readers are likely to find it very difficult to navigate pages with + tables used for layout.</p> + + <p class="note">There are a variety of alternatives to using HTML + tables for layout, primarily using CSS positioning and CSS + tables.</p> + + <p>User agents that do table analysis on arbitrary content are + encouraged to find heuristics to determine which tables actually + contain data and which are merely being used for layout. This + specification does not define a precise heuristic.</p> + + <p>If a <code>table</code> element has a <code + title="attr-table-summary">summary</code> attribute, the user agent + may report the contents of that attribute to the user.</p> + + <p class="note">Authors are encouraged to use the + <code>caption</code> element instead of the <code + title="attr-table-summary">summary</code> attribute.</p> + <p>The <dfn title="dom-table-caption"><code>caption</code></dfn> DOM attribute must return, on getting, the first <code>caption</code> element child of the <code>table</code> element, if any, or null