Table header id use

[Matt Broughton]

I have questions regarding the use of the "id" attribute in table
headers where there are multiple contiguous tables.
<http://my.vbe.com/~mbrought/test_tables/events.html>

Is it permissible and/or good practice to cite the header id from a
previous table where the header information is the same? More
importantly, will screen readers pick up the proper header information
from the previous table?

The basic format is:

<!-- First Table -->
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th class="c202" id="td1">event </th>
<th class="c203" id="td2" abbr="sponsor"> sponsoring org.</th>
<th class="c204" id="td3" abbr="begins">b egin date</th>
<th class="c204" id="td4" abbr="ends">end date</th>
<th class="c207" id="td5">locati on</th>
</tr>

<tr>
<td class="c208" headers="td1">d ata data data</td>
<td class="c208" headers="td2">d ata data/td>
<td class="c209" headers="td3">d ata</td>
<td class="c209" headers="td4">d ata</td>
<td class="c210" headers="td5">d ata</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>

<!-- Second Table -->
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="c208" headers="td1">d ata data data</td>
<td class="c208" headers="td2">d ata data/td>
<td class="c209" headers="td3">d ata</td>
<td class="c209" headers="td4">d ata</td>
<td class="c210" headers="td5">d ata</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>

This is still a work in progress. Any other comments are welcome. I
would also appreciate knowing if there are any rendering problems with
various browsers.

--
Matt Broughton
Only relatives are absolute.

[Brian]

Re: Table header id use

Matt Broughton wrote:[color=blue]
> I have questions regarding the use of the "id" attribute in table
> headers where there are multiple contiguous tables.
> <http://my.vbe.com/~mbrought/test_tables/events.html>
>
> Is it permissible and/or good practice to cite the header id from a
> previous table where the header information is the same?[/color]

Did you read the spec? It's too late for me to look it up, but I
doubt that this is a robust solution. If you make it a large table
instead of 2 small ones, you can simply use the scope attribute for
the th elements.
[color=blue]
> <!-- First Table -->
> <table>
> <tbody>
> <tr>
> <th class="c202" id="td1">event </th>
> <th class="c203" id="td2" abbr="sponsor"> sponsoring org.</th>
> <th class="c204" id="td3" abbr="begins">b egin date</th>
> <th class="c204" id="td4" abbr="ends">end date</th>
> <th class="c207" id="td5">locati on</th>
> </tr>
>
> <tr>
> <td class="c208" headers="td1">d ata data data</td>
> <td class="c208" headers="td2">d ata data/td>
> <td class="c209" headers="td3">d ata</td>
> <td class="c209" headers="td4">d ata</td>
> <td class="c210" headers="td5">d ata</td>
> </tr>
> </tbody></table>
>
> <!-- Second Table -->
> <table>
> <tbody>[/color]

don't start a second table here.

</tbody>

<tbody>
<!-- etc. -->

--
Brian
follow the directions in my address to email me

[Matt Broughton]

Re: Table header id use

In article <AEaGb.27326$VB 2.63486@attbi_s 51>,
Brian <usenet2@juliet remblay.com.inv alid-remove-this-part> wrote:
[color=blue]
> Matt Broughton wrote:[color=green]
> > I have questions regarding the use of the "id" attribute in table
> > headers where there are multiple contiguous tables.
> > <http://my.vbe.com/~mbrought/test_tables/events.html>
> >
> > Is it permissible and/or good practice to cite the header id from a
> > previous table where the header information is the same?[/color]
>
> Did you read the spec? It's too late for me to look it up, but I
> doubt that this is a robust solution. If you make it a large table
> instead of 2 small ones, you can simply use the scope attribute for
> the th elements.[/color]

Doh!! I had read the spec quite a few times before and I missed the
obvious. It clearly states that the id and class attributes are
document wide identifiers. Sometimes a new day and fresh eyes work
wonders.

I also reread the sections on headers and scope. I will change over to
scope. It seems to fit my simple table structure well.

Thank you.

--
Matt Broughton
Only relatives are absolute.