Tables existed in HTML for one reason: To display tabular data. But then border=”0″ made it possible for designers to have a grid upon which to lay out images and text. Still the most dominant means of designing visually rich Web sites, the use of tables is now actually interfering with building a better, more accessible, flexible, and functional Web. Find out where the problems stem from, and learn solutions to create transitional or completely table-less layout.
My goal here is not to point fingers at those sticking to what they know – but more to show you some other areas of a CSS compliant website that help your business out in ways you don’t necessarily realize. The facts are clear, a table-free website will:
- Make your pages load faster
- Lower your hosting costs
- Make your redesigns more efficient and less expensive
- Help you maintain visual consistency throughout your sites
- Get you better search engine results
- Make your sites more accessible to all viewers and user agents and give you a competitive edge (that is, job security) as more of the world moves to using Web standards.
Some people have seemingly valid arguments against CSS, but rest assured, modern browsers are much better at rendering Web standards and we don’t need to use these archaic methods any more.
Instead of nesting tables within tables and filling empty cells with spacer GIFs, we can use much simpler markup and CSS to lay out beautiful sites that are faster to load, easier to redesign, and more accessible to everyone.