Brian Shaughnessy is working on some layout improvements for a client - which may potentially result in some core code contributions. He posted this question on the forums today:
I notice there's some inconsistencies regarding how some of the forms are laid out. Specifically, I'm running into forms that use a mix of table/tr/td tags with dl/dt/dd tags to layout the form labels and fields. This makes it more difficult to have consistency laying out the page using css, because those tags are structured differently.
My personal preference is to use table tags exclusively. Because of the built-in structure of dl/dt/dd tags, I find them hard to layout on a consistent and growable/shrinkable manner. I know that in a strict-css-world we shouldn't use table tags for layout, but for a long list of form labels and fields, many of which have option contingencies, tables seem like the most logical way to handle layout.
Since this is an issue we've struggled with, and because we're looking at changes to some key screens and forms to improve usability - I'm posting my response here as a blog. Hopefully we'll grab a few more eyeballs and get some useful input from folks with expertise in this area...