[WEB4LIB] RE: CSS vs. Tables

[Stephen Meyer]

John W. Chapman wrote:

> The overall point is that style sheets should be relied on only for 
> presentation and not for conveying shades of meaning.
> 
> Having said that, CSS-based layout has the potential for fairly complex 
> markup that may divide up text into groupings that may seem confusing to 
> the user who does not have the appropriate style sheet. In those cases, 
> following the other Section 508 guidelines regarding the use of explicitly 
> labeled elements should improve readability.
> 

I would add that beyond just separating the presentation from the 
content, CSS encourages using the presentation of content to _enhance_ 
certain elements of a web page. For example, by grouping together 
certain navigation elements in different classes you can control the way 
that different link types behave when rolled over. Look at 
www.alistapart.com. The 5 top level navigation links change color as a 
block rather than just as text. Hopefully the user will understand 
(consciously or not) how the CSS elements contribute to the structural 
meaning of certain pieces of information on the web pages.

-Steve