[TYPO3-shop] [Typo3-shop] CSS based tt_products template

[Robert Markula]

Nick Weisser wrote:
> Robert Markula wrote:
>> If you're doing all the XHTML compliance work anyway, why bother with 
>> XHTML 1.0 transitional? Why not go straight for XHTML 1.1 compliance?
> 
> Hi Robert,
> 
> It already took me a couple of hours to make everything validate in 
> transitional mode, but if I have some more time I'll try to go for XHTML 
> 1.1.
> 
> You're right. We should always go for the rhinoceros ;-)
> 
> 
>> Concerning tables I personally try to avoid them wherever possible. 
>> The only place I use them in my tt_news template is the basket content 
>> list, which is IMO appropriate.
> 
> Why wouldn't you want to use a table e.g. for the product listing?

Hi Nick,
I try to avoid tables wherever possible, to make life easier for
disabled visitors and for users with mobile devices. All new nokia
phones have a basic xhtml browser for example. Due to the small screen
size, you would have to do a lot of horizontal scrolling to be able to
read the whole table width. With a table-less design, the text is
breaking at the display margins, which means, no horizontal scrolling.

The question if tables should be used for product listing is not easy to
answer imho. Some could say, it is tabular data, and some could say it
is not, because of the product description. In my opinion, this is a
border case, where I prefer to not use tables.
The question is easier to answer for the basket content list, because
here we have the situation that one table cell corresponds to exactly 
one specific information (price, article number, etc.) - no bodytext or 
teaser, which may contain more than one information for the reader.

When talking about accessibility, it is a matter of taste and depending
on who you ask, but for some disabled persons it is easier to have a
headline, image alt-text and bodytext with multiple paragraphs (one or
more for the product description, one for the price) and then the order
form, which are read fluently in a screen-reader, rather than a table 
with "[table cell one]: headline. [table cell two]: image alt text. 
[table cell three]: bodytext. and so on...". Even when you use correct 
table head-tags, it is - again, depending on who you ask - not as good 
as fluent text because it just does not sound as friendly and takes 
longer to read.
Not using tables means the page looks better on small screens and loads 
faster.

I could send you a template that we use via pm, if you are interested. 
It was created for version 2.0.5 and doesn't use all markers, but after 
all, it's XHTML 1.1 and - except for the basket content list - table-less.

Regards,
Ro