I applaud the thinking but it is customary to put structure info in headings
and then nest them appropriately.  I am not helped at all by lay out tables
with or without descriptive information in what ever form.  Older screen
readers and browsers will not see the summary.

As for navigation, name # anchor pairs are good if well used even with css.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kim Paulk" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 10:18 AM
Subject: Web page layout tables: discriptive approach


Hi all,

What does anyone think about describing layout tables, especially nested
ones, in this manner?

Layout Table: Contains Page content (or this one could be left with no
description)
Layout Table: Page header
Layout Table: Left, main menu
Layout Table: Main content
Layout Table: Right, our sponsors
Layout Table: Page footer

This way, a blind user knows where they are on the page and whether the
table
is likely to contain anything they wish to access. This could be made more
useful by placing a 'skip' link first in each layout table (or at least
those
that have enough content or links to skip). While it is more to listen to,
it
breaks the page up in a manner similar to what sighted users see, which is
the original purpose of layout tables after all. Assuming, of course, that
CSS is not being used for whatever reason, like by me, who hasn't learned it
yet, but will soon, I hope. <grin>

Looking forward to comments on this approach.

Kim Paulk
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