From: "Zoe M. Gillenwater" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

>>>2. Really, Al. In what way, is a total separation of presentation
>>>and display and content code, like spacer gifs? And in what way is
>>>the faux columns technique less like spacers?
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Because the same end result could be accomlished by using a very 
>>large
>>spacer :-)
>>
>
> But isn't the point of standards-based design that you use better
> "means" to get the same "end"?  The web user sees the same thing, 
> but
> behind the scenes you're doing things in a much more efficient way?

A spacer used to "shim" open an element is a hack whether the space 
created is accomplished via CSS or html. Either method, in and of 
iteself,  does nothing to prevent access to the information. Both 
Alex's method and spacers serve the same purpose. Separating structure 
from presentation is not a license to overcomplicate markup and CSS 
just because you can say it's "semantically correct" -  whatever that 
means in the real world :-). We all do it. I mean, we all come up with 
contrived methods to make web pages do our visual bidding. Semantics, 
therefore, is an afterthought :-)

CSS is the best some people have now - but it is a very poorly written 
specification with little hope for the future unless it is totally 
rewritten and all the browsers in the world suddenly are forced, I 
mean really forced, to get on the exact same page in terms of how 
their appliances render those specifications. The truth is sometimes a 
valuable thing that helps us plan and motivates us to do better :-)

Al Sparber
PVII
http://www.projectseven.com

"Designing with CSS is sometimes like barreling down a crumbling 
mountain road at 90 miles per hour secure in the knowledge that 
repairs are scheduled for next Tuesday".


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