A table is a grid of cells presented horizontally as rows and vertically as columns. Tables offer a simple and powerful method to present navigation and other information in an orderly fashion. All Web browsers support tables. Tables can be modified in a variety of ways including the colour of borders, the colour and font of text and the table background. You can specify the dimensions of the table as a percentage of the monitor window or in pixels. but using pixels, the size of the table is kept the same irrespective of the browser and the user may have to scroll to view all the information. If the table is created as a percentage of the window, it may look different according to the browser being used. The table will occupy the same percentage of the page whatever the screen resolution or browser being used.

Use frames only when other design solutions are not adequate. Frames may take longer to design, develop, and maintain. Splitting a page into frames can be confusing for users since frames can break the fundamental user model. Frames can yield unexpected results, particularly when using the "Back" button. Frames make a Web site difficult to use, and can prevent users from emailing a URL to others. Finally search engine spiders have difficulty with frames and these pages may not be indexed or ranked by them.

Tables or Frames

Web design programs feature tools that split Web pages into frames. Each frame can contain information. Although using frames may seem attractive, there are a number of reasons to use frames with great caution:

  • Framed pages take longer to download.

  • Some older Web browsers do not accept frames and the user will see a blank page and leave.

  • Search engines may not rank framed pages.

  • Some readers find that frames break up the page to the point where they cannot follow.

  • A user may not be able to bookmark a framed page and will not return.

By using tables you will be able to control the way that your Web pages appear when viewed on different browsers and different screen resolutions. Use percentage of screen size rather than pixels and set the border to '0' if you do not wish to show visitors that a table is being used. You can introduce text and / or graphics into each cell.

A table is a grid of cells presented horizontally as rows and vertically as columns. Tables offer a simple and powerful method to present navigation and other information in an orderly fashion. All Web browsers support tables. Tables can be modified in a variety of ways including the colour of borders, the colour and font of text and the table background. You can specify the dimensions of the table as a percentage of the monitor window or in pixels. but using pixels, the size of the table is kept the same irrespective of the browser and the user may have to scroll to view all the information. If the table is created as a percentage of the window, it may look different according to the browser being used. The table will occupy the same percentage of the page whatever the screen resolution or browser being used.

Use frames only when other design solutions are not adequate. Frames may take longer to design, develop, and maintain. Splitting a page into frames can be confusing for users since frames can break the fundamental user model. Frames can yield unexpected results, particularly when using the "Back" button. Frames make a Web site difficult to use, and can prevent users from emailing a URL to others. Finally search engine spiders have difficulty with frames and these pages may not be indexed or ranked by them.

see also http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9612.html   http://usability.gov/guidelines/

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David Viniker, the author and webmaster of FirstWebsitedesign.com, believes that quality of content is a prerequisite to success. He is a clinician (consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist - ObGyn at Whipps Cross University Hospital, London - borders of London and Essex). He has research and teaching interests. His website www.2womenshealth.com receives 1.5 million visitors annually and is the most popular personal women's health website on the internet. He has applied his clinical skills to researching SEO techniques.

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