css or tables

[Jake]

Web sites built using CSS separate the page content from the design of
the web site.

Separates content from presentation ...... OK

This makes them more accessible to users browsing the
net by other means than the usual I.E.

Ummm .... No.

For example, a screen reader
when reading a site using tables will read out the <table> tags

and
spacer images

Ummm ... Not so.

As 99% (invent any figure you like) of the Web still uses tables for
layout, AT UAs are more than capable of taking a table-based layout in
their stride.

Spacer images with ALT="" will have no effect on accessibility.

so may take some time before the user actually gets to
the information that they require.

Not really.

With CSS there is no formatting on
the page so the screen reader gets straight to the useful content.

(A CSS-based layout with a large repetitive menu and no 'skip
navigation' link is slower than a tables-based layout *with* a 'skip
navigation' link -- and vice versa, of course.)

Anyway I am sure a quick Google on CSS and accessibility will explain
it better and in more depth than I can.

Thanks, but the real answer is that tables v. CSS for layout really has
little bearing on the accessibility of a site (assuming no linearization
errors).

Correct mark-up is the important thing.