On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 10:21:37 +0100, Mantorok wrote:
Hi all
I heard recently that using DIVs instead of Tables for laying out your page
was the way forward.
Yes and no.
Can anyone give me a good reason why I should use DIVs, I think they're are
pain in the backside personally and can never really get my head around
them.
What are the advantages? Do I HAVE to use them? If so, why? How will it
affect any new sites I develop?
No, you don't HAVE to do much of anything. However, good web design
specifies seperating content from presentation. That is, seperating the
actual text of your site from it's layout and style.
Tables have many problems, including being more difficult for those with
disabilities to read, as well as making it more difficult for search
engines to find relevant information.
div/css based sites tend to get better page ranks in google and other
crawlers because the site is "semantically" relevant. That is, you've
tagged parts of your page with bits of information that defines its
importance, such as using h1/h2/h3 tags, etc...
Nothing is preventing you from designing sites as you always have, and 95%
of your audience will probably never care. But if you want to be
accessible to those with disabilities (a requirement for government and
educational sites, and a growing requirement for corporations - see the
Target Companies lawsuit), then semantic design is the way to go.
Another benefit is that div/css based sites tend to use a lot less
bandwidth, which can save you real money if you pay per megabyte for your
hosting.