My Weblog, with table trick

Today's posts

   This text will be displayed first in Lynx and read first in JAWS, even
   though it is visually positioned to the right of the navigation bar.
   This benefits blind users, and it also benefits you, since search
   engines give higher precedence to keywords that come earlier in your
   page.
    1. The non-tricky version of this page. Same layout.
    2. The non-tricky version in Lynx. Yuck.
    3. The table trick in Lynx. Much better.

   Here's the basic concept. Instead of the obvious table layout:

<table>
<tr>
  <td valign="top" align="left" width="25%">
    ... navigation bar ...
  </td>
  <td valign="top" align="left">
    ... main content ...
  </td>
</tr>
</table>

   Do this instead:

<table>
<tr>
  <!-- spacer GIF in upper-left cell -->
  <td><img src="/images/1.gif" width="1" height="1" alt=""></td>
  <!-- main content cell first, with rowspan=2 -->
  <td valign="top" align="left" rowspan="2">
    ... main content ...
  </td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td valign="top" align="left" width="25%">
    ... navigation bar ...
  </td>
</tr>
</table>

   Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam
   nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat
   volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation
   ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
   Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse
   molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at
   vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent
   luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

   Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper
   suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem
   vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie
   consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et
   accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril
   delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor
   sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod
   tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.

   Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse
   molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at
   vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent
   luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.
   Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam
   nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat
   volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation
   ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

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