Are we having to explain why we don't use tables for layout in 2012!?
OK. Lots of reasons:
i) they create complicated HTML because presentation and meaning aren't separated. This makes it hard to manage if you want to make a layout change, or someone else needs to work on the site.
ii) because content and its presentation aren't separated the layout isn't very flexible. It won't scale to fit on a mobile phone, for example. If the content was separated from its presentation you could feed devices the same HTML and take care of the presentation using CSS media queries.
iii) because you use tables for layout rather than their intended purpose (to tabulate data) the site is inaccessible to users who are using a screen reader
iv) using center tags is inefficient. Using .class-name {text-align: center;} is hardly difficult and saves you from trawling through your HTML should you want to get rid of the centring.
Are we having to explain why we don't use tables for layout in 2012!?
OK. Lots of reasons:
i) they create complicated HTML because presentation and meaning aren't separated. This makes it hard to manage if you want to make a layout change, or someone else needs to work on the site. ii) because content and its presentation aren't separated the layout isn't very flexible. It won't scale to fit on a mobile phone, for example. If the content was separated from its presentation you could feed devices the same HTML and take care of the presentation using CSS media queries. iii) because you use tables for layout rather than their intended purpose (to tabulate data) the site is inaccessible to users who are using a screen reader iv) using center tags is inefficient. Using .class-name {text-align: center;} is hardly difficult and saves you from trawling through your HTML should you want to get rid of the centring.
Isn't that enough?