May 6, 2008
Zebra Striping as Covered by ALA
Online magazine A List Apart has just published an article "Zebra Striping: Does it Really Help?". As I can't be arsed to re-write my thoughts in a logical and structured manner, I'll just copy and paste what I put into the q*bee IRC channel:
[19:45] <Jem> I've just read an article on ALA about 'zebra striping' - where one row of a table is a different colour to the next and it alternates - and whether or not it's beneficial.
[19:45] <Jem> The article can basically be summed up as 'it doesn't matter either way'.
[19:46] <Jem> I've never seen the point in publishing articles that don't actually clarify whether or not a process is worth the effort
[19:46] <Jem> You might as well just publish: "Zebra Striping - it really doesn't matter!" and be done with it
[19:46] <Jem> Obviously the pretty graphics and waffle about studies and questions make the "we're not sure" even more convincing
Personally, I find it much easier to read a table if the background colour of each row alternates, but I'm not sure if it results in an imaginary increase in efficiency or an actual one...
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Welcome to the blog of girl geek & php ninja extraordinaire 'Jem'. Web developer, mum and supreme crazy cat lady.. 
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I don't like zebra striping. :(
Like I said before: someone must have been on a deadline! I suppose, really, it would depend on the size of the table. If you list 5 rows, they probably do not need to be colour coded. If each cell is rather big, they may not need to be colour coded. If you're listing several hundred tiny cells, colour coding may be helpful! But, then, it's really all down to personal preference.
See? My comment is just as wishy washy as the ALA article!
I didn't completely read the article -- didn't need to, you summed it up rather nicely. But I find this particular line funny: "As web designers, we certainly cannot afford to be spending time coding an approach that isn’t actually helpful!"
Does the same go for articles? ;)
I did participate in the follow-up study...
I also think that striping makes it easier to read. And it makes a table look less blah in my opinion. :)
I don't find it that difficult to implement zebra striping (well I have to do it at work regularly XP ), but I prefer alternating row color.
1) differentiates rows better
2) it's more aesthetically appealing
I can't be bothered to read the article now, but sometimes you can just write a debating essay, and at the end realize that it's not that important. Though this is more relevant with controversial topics. I didn't know that zebra striping was one such topic.
I like Zebra striping on tables when I am reading them. It makes it easier for me to read them without getting headaches. So for me if it is off-line I like zebra stripes, online I couldn't care cause I don't read things like that online I print those things off.
I totally thought you were on about zebra stripping. Um.
Wow, all those pretty graphs and charts and "it doesn't really matter" is the conclusion? o_O
But I like zebra striping when it comes to tables :)
if its slight variation in colours then i dont mind but otherwise its kind of annoying.
I never knew there was a q*bee IRC channel - I've not been on IRC in years!
I like muted zebra striping like in the example they used. Like you said, it makes it easier to read.
It seems to me that it mattered enough to make a study of it regardless of the "it doesn't matter" conclusion.
Your XHTML vs HTML article doesn't take a side...:P
I'm not a reputable magazine ;) Anyway, I prefer HTML most of the time. :P
I need zebra striping or I always get confused and see the wrong stats for the wrong object (or whatever. Wrong phone number for a person, etc etc)
I like it when it's subtle, though. Not black and white.
I'd never do striping by hand. Or by PHP for that matter. I use jQuery and for those of you with Javascript disabled, then you don't get to see the right stats when reading one of my tables.
I find that in large tables, it's easier to read. But it's as easy to read as when there are borders for each cell.
It's just that when it's all uniform, and there are no borders. It's harder to read.
Surely it depends on how much the background colours differ, how big the table is, how much content is in the table, etc etc? There's a million and one different factors that would play into it - and one certainly just can't say "YES IT'S GOOD", or "NO IT'S BAD" without taking into account these factors...
I much prefer zebra striping, even with smaller tables. From my job I've dealt with ridiculous amounts of data and huge tables, and we wound up manually striping much of it. They were damn near impossible to read otherwise.
I find it helps to read large tables, but prefer the stripes to be subtle otherwise it then becomes distracting.
If border-collapse: collapse and td has no border, stripe. If border-collapse: separate, and tr background or border colour != body background, and table background != tr or td background, etc, usually not necessary. Personally, I zebra-stripe my tables, but I only use tables so often. :P
Hey! I took your advice and installed FanUpdate :D Thanks for everything :) And I guess you can tell it wasnt me due to we have different IP's :P
-Soph x
I think it's rather obnoxious unless used on a large scale. Otherwise, it seems like a waste of time to me.
Of course it has to be done right to be enjoyable. Too many a times do I see obnoxious zebras hanging out.
I really do like it when tables have 'zebra stripes' not drastic colors just nice ones that match like #dddddd & #ffffff... I did the follow up study as well. If there are no 'zebra striping' on a table I have such a hard time reading it without highlighting the areas.
As long as it's done correctly (not using two super-contrasted colors), I prefer it. It's a lot easier to read tables that way.
You might want to take into consideration this is a first-time study, with a follow-up study in the works. A solid theory can't be made until it's been tested several times in multiple ways. Personally, I don't think this study should have been published until after multiple trials, but that's a different matter.
Studies often test the benefit of something, and it's not necessarily uncommon that the answer found is that it doesn't matter. The point of the title was to draw you into the article. If they called it "Zebra Striping: It doesn't matter!" it would have given you the answer already and nobody would read it.
The answer was an honest answer delivered by the study. What did you want them to report? A lie? Tell you it was better without relevant data? At least they weren't spouting unjustified opinions; they actually tried to give a factual basis for something.