| Advantages |
Some information is best presented in tabular form. |
Newer versions of HTML have the <TABLE> tag
and many browsers support it. |
The output looks "nicer" than when using the
<PRE> tag. |
| Disadvantages |
Unfortunately, tables also have their problems. |
| Old browsers do not support them and others do not implement
them correctly. Some special browsers, such as those used by the
blind or visually impaired, have great difficulty with tables. |
| Download times can be substantially increased. The page will not
appear on the screen until the entire table has been downloaded and
formatted. |
| Nested tables aggravate this problem. |
| Suggestions |
Don't use tables if another format will do just as well. |
Consider offering a non-<TABLE> version to
your visitors. |
Consider constructing a table using the preformatting or
<PRE> tags. |
| Avoid long tables. |
| Avoid nested tables. |