Hello friends
Here is my view on subject.

Using tables is wrong approach, which will not have any use in future. On the other side designs created with w3c compliance in mind, are rather limited right now. Browser support is just weak and from time to time you will find yourself learning stuff you should not need know, like hacks.

For the accessibility, you might want to read this:
http://www.contentwithstyle.co.uk/Articles/106/

I'm out.