Websites without tables
In the early days of web site design there was little scope to display much more than structured blocks of text flowing down the page. Navigation was achieved by links within the body of the page and an index link list at the top and bottom. This was primarily because the main use was for educational establishments and this format was perfect for reports and texts.
With the advent of tables the possibility of laying out columns and navigational menus became reality and a plethora of web sites emerged that were packed to the gunnels with nested tables.
While this did achieve the desired layout it was often necessary to 'fudge' the layout so that it appeared the same in all browser configurations. Every web site designer had his or her bag of tricks and workarounds to achieve the desired effect - the Bitingedge team were no exception.
A table cell too many
This dependency on multiple nested tables caused some serious problems when trying to resolve incompatibilites with other browsers and made the process of site redesign a lengthy and therefore costly process.
The World Wide Web Consortium recommends that tables are used only for the presentation of tabular data. At Bitingedge we follow this recommendation as much as current browser capabilities will allow using <div> elements to structure the page with cascading style sheets providing the presentational information.
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