The cellpadding attribute was added to version 2.0 of the HTML language in 1996.
[4] Space between text and borders is an important element of web page design, because it improves the readability of text and visual appeal of graphics in table cells.
[8] Presentational HTML elements such as cellpadding are becoming obsolete, as more and more web designers move to the use of CSS and other newer methods of creating web pages, available in HTML versions 5 and newer.
[9] One reason for this is that, although cellpadding makes reading easier for sighted users, text-to-speech software for non-sighted users has difficulty in interpreting complex table data.
[10] However, because visual spacing of text in tables is still important, developers of these newer methods continue to use the term "cellpadding" or "cell padding" to describe whatever process is used to provide it.