Mark-up of summary information

[emma.sax]

Hi All,

I need to figure out whether the following information is best
displayed in a table or as a definition list - it is displayed as a
summary to show what the user has inputted previously and whether they
want to make any changes:

Title Miss
First E
Surname Accessible
DOB 19/05/1979
Address Somewhere nice
Email (e-mail address removed)

It's coming straight from a table of data, but is also obvious pairings
of information (but I realise that "Miss" is not a definition of
"Title" - but definition lists have become somewhat standard for
pairings)

So which is best way to mark-up this information?

Thanks

M

 

[Jukka K. Korpela]

I need to figure out whether the following information is best
displayed in a table or as a definition list - it is displayed as a
summary to show what the user has inputted previously and whether they
want to make any changes:

Title Miss
First E
Surname Accessible
DOB 19/05/1979
Address Somewhere nice
Email (e-mail address removed)

This sounds like echoing user input, not a summary. Anyway, it's rather
naturally tabular data. It's nowhere near a definition list, except to those
who treat <dl> as meaning just a collection of pairs. (You do not _define_
the terms "title", "first", etc. at all; instead you assume that the reader
already knows what there words mean.)

On the practical side, you surely want them to appear in tabular layout. So
why would you refrain from using <table> markup for tabular data and then
try to figure out some way to make it appear as tabulated?

 

[emma.sax]

Anyway, it's rather naturally tabular data.
It's nowhere near a definition list, except to those
who treat <dl> as meaning just a collection of pairs.

Yep, thanks - that's what I thought. Just needed to hear it from
someone else!