Understanding frames and accessibility

Requirements: Frames in a frameset must be titled appropriately. Framesets must also feature a <noframes></noframes> element giving users with browsers not capable of rendering frames access to content.

There is a great deal of misunderstanding about the usefulness and accessibilty of frames. Frames are a way of opening multiple Web pages at the same time so that they can interact with each other.

This creates a more complex environment than just having one Web page open. For this reason, frames should be titled to assist users in understanding the relationship among the frames.

Here is an example of titling the frames within a frameset:

<FRAME src="menu.html" title="Site Navigation">
<FRAME src="content.html" title="Content">

These titles cue the user to the fact that the first frame will be navigational links and that the second frame will display the content.

Also, all framesets must feature a <noframes> elements, which displays in browsers that do not support frames. The <noframes> content should be links to the pages that make up the frameset.

A common error with the <noframes> element is to place text that says something like "Your browser does not support frames. Please upgrade." If someone uses a browser without frames, likely he or she does so out of need or desire.

Some general considerations about frames

Frames are an excellent tool to use if you are creating an environment where you expect users to have multiple Web pages open at once. However, frames do have some functional drawbacks including difficulty for people to link to or bookmark particular pages within a framset and several search engines not being able to display a full frameset when people search for specific information.

Developers should consider putting links to the home page or the top level frameset on every page expected to show within a frameset.

Generally, frames should not be considered a development shortcut -- offering developers the option of creating one "menu" page rather than putting a menu on every page of a Web site. A better alternative to this approach would be use of what are known as server-side includes.

Overall, used wisely frames are excellent tools that increase the usability and accessibility of a site. Used haphazardly, however, frames can become a major pitfall.