| CSS versus tables for layout: | | | | search engines to attract visitors to the site. On the |
| When Netscape Navigator 4 dominated the browser | | | | other side of the issue, search engine optimization |
| market, the popular solution available for designers to | | | | consultants (SEOs) are concerned with how well a |
| lay out a Web page was by using tables. Often even | | | | web site works technically and textually: how much |
| simple web designing for a page would require | | | | traffic it generates via search engines, and how |
| dozens of tables nested in each other. Many web | | | | many sales it makes, assuming looks don't contribute |
| templates in Dreamweaver and other WYSIWYG | | | | to the sales. As a result, the designers and SEOs |
| editors still use this technique today. Navigator 4 | | | | often end up in disputes where the designer wants |
| didn't support CSS to a useful degree, so it simply | | | | more 'pretty' graphics, and the SEO wants lots of |
| wasn't used. After the browser wars subsided, and | | | | 'ugly' keyword-rich text, bullet lists, and text links. |
| the dominant browsers such as Internet Explorer | | | | One could argue that this is a false dichotomy due to |
| became more W3C compliant, designers started | | | | the possibility that a web designing may integrate the |
| turning toward CSS as an alternate means of laying | | | | two disciplines for a collaborative and synergistic |
| out their pages. CSS proponents say that tables | | | | solution. Because some graphics serve communication |
| should be used only for tabular data, not for layout. | | | | purposes in addition to aesthetics, how well a site |
| Using CSS instead of tables also returns HTML to a | | | | works may depend on the graphic designer's visual |
| semantic markup, which helps bots and search | | | | communication ideas as well as the SEO |
| engines understand what's going on in a web page. All | | | | considerations. Another problem when using a lot of |
| modern Web browsers support CSS with different | | | | graphics on a page is that download times can be |
| degrees of limitations. However, one of the main | | | | greatly lengthened, often irritating the user. This has |
| points against CSS is that by relying on it exclusively, | | | | become less of a problem as the internet has |
| control is essentially relinquished as each browser has | | | | evolved with high-speed internet and the use of |
| its own quirks which result in a slightly different page | | | | vector graphics. This is an engineering challenge to |
| display. This is especially a problem as not every | | | | increase bandwidth in addition to an artistic challenge |
| browser supports the same subset of CSS rules. For | | | | to minimize graphics and graphic file sizes. This is an |
| designers who are used to table-based layouts, | | | | on-going challenge as increased bandwidth invites |
| developing Web sites in CSS often becomes a | | | | increased amounts of content. |
| matter of trying to replicate what can be done with | | | | Accessible Web design: |
| tables, leading some to find CSS design rather | | | | Main article: |
| cumbersome due to lack of familiarity. For example, | | | | Web accessibilityTo be accessible, web pages and |
| at one time it was rather difficult to produce certain | | | | sites must conform to certain accessibility principles. |
| design elements, such as vertical positioning, and | | | | These can be grouped into the following main |
| full-length footers in a web designing using absolute | | | | areas:use semantic markup that provides a |
| positions. With the abundance of CSS resources | | | | meaningful structure to the document (i.e. web |
| available online today, though, web designing with | | | | page)Semantic markup also refers to semantically |
| reasonable adherence to ,;;' standards involves little | | | | organizing the web page structure and publishing web |
| more than applying CSS 2.1 or CSS 3 to properly | | | | services description accordingly so that they can be |
| structured markup. These days most modern | | | | recognized by other web services on different web |
| browsers have solved most of these quirks in CSS | | | | pages. Standards for semantic web are set by |
| rendering and this has made many different CSS | | | | IEEE-use a valid markup language that conforms to a |
| layouts possible. However, some people continue to | | | | published DTD or Schema-provide text equivalents |
| use old browsers, and designers need to keep this in | | | | for any non-text components (e.g. images, |
| mind, and allow for graceful degrading of pages in | | | | multimedia)-use hyperlinks that make sense when |
| older browsers. Most notable among these old | | | | read out of context. (e.g. avoid "Click Here.")-don't |
| browsers are Internet Explorer 5 and 5.5, which, | | | | use frames-use CSS rather than HTML Tables for |
| according to some web designers, are becoming the | | | | layout.-author the page so that when the source |
| new Netscape Navigator 4 - a block that holds the | | | | code is read line-by-line by user agents (such as a |
| World Wide Web back from converting to CSS | | | | screen readers) it remains intelligible. (Using tables for |
| design. However, the W3 Consortium has made CSS | | | | web designing will often result in information that is |
| in combination with XHTML the standard for web | | | | not.)However, W3C permits an exception where |
| designing. | | | | tables for layout either make sense when linearized |
| Form versus Function: | | | | or an alternate version (perhaps linearized) is made |
| Some web developers have a graphic arts | | | | available.Website accessibility is also changing as it is |
| background and may pay more attention to how a | | | | impacted by Content Management Systems that |
| page looks than considering other issues such as how | | | | allow changes to be made to webpages without the |
| visitors are going to find the page via a search | | | | need of obtaining programming language knowledge. |
| engine. Some might rely more on advertising than | | | | |