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Re: Using Tables

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From: Tim Harshbarger
Date: Feb 15, 2012 9:54AM

> misuse of, or incorrect / inconsistent
> application of accessibility technique itself becomes a barrier for
> users of Web content.

I agree that misuse of techniques can cause problems, but I am uncertain that citing misuse of techniques is enough of a reason to deprecate or remove the use of a technique. There are also issues like what is the problem being solved?, How is the technique misused?, How is it used correctly?, et cetera.
I have seen bad uses of the summary attribute where it makes things more confusing. I have seen good uses of the summary attribute where it seemed to be helping users understand the table better. Most of the uses I have seen are not much of either. They don't make the table more difficult to use and they don't improve the understanding of the table. I'm uncertain if I would call those misuses of the technique. I might consider them more unnecessary applications of a technique.