Yes, Alan. I think such an enhancement would be very useful. I'm sure layout
tables will be with us for a long time and knowing that that is what you are
encountering with a screen reader could often be pretty handy.

Regards,
Tom.

-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Cantor [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, 18 February 2003 4:18
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Web page layout tables


In an ideal world, web developers would never use tables to layout pages.
But we don't live in an ideal world, and web developers do organize web
pages visually using tables.

I have noticed that Jaws 4.5 does a pretty good job of navigating through
layout tables. I am curious whether people who rely on screen readers have
noticed this. Or are layout tables continue to be a bane.

I have been asked to comment on a proposed web standard. The standard
mandates that layout tables should only use the TABLE, TR, and TD elements;
and most interestingly, that the summary attribute always be used with
TABLE, and that it always say two words: "layout table." (Jaws and HPR both
detect the summary attribute; the current version of Window-Eyes does not.)

Screen reader users: would table attribute summary="layout table" be an
accessibility enhancement for you?

Alan



Alan Cantor
Project Manager
Strategic e-Government Implementation
e-Government, OCCS
416-212-1152
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