Accessible Design: Best Practices

Frames

General Guidelines for Frames.

Frames provide a means of visually dividing the computer screen into distinct areas that can be separately rewritten. Unfortunately, frames can also present difficulties for users with disabilities when those frames are not easily identifiable to assistive technology. For instance, a popular use of frames is to create "navigational bars" in a fixed position on the screen and have the content of the web site retrievable by activating one of those navigational buttons. The new content is displayed another area of the screen. Because the navigational bar doesn't change, it provides a stable "frame-of-reference" for users and makes navigation much easier. However, users with disabilities may become lost if the differences between the two frames are not clearly established.

The above image shows a web site that used to be based on frames The top navigation area, including the program logo and navigation bar remain static while the information changes below. (Note: this site was later updated to remove frames. Visit the new, improved site at: http://english.osu.edu/programs/dmp).

While Section 508 guidelines require only that frames be titled and labeled to identify the changing areas of information, the WAC recommends that web developers avoid using frames in most cases. Instead, templates or server-side includes can be developed to manage repeating information (such as background color, logos, and navigation menus) across the site.

Before deciding to use frames in your site, we recommend you read more about the problems with frames:

• Jacob Nielsen: "Why Frames Suck (most of the time)."
• ALT.HTML: "Why are Frames so Evil?"
• Web Design Group: "Guide to Frame Usage."

If you do decide to use frames, be sure to read the Access Board's guidelines for creating accessible frames.

Example:

<FRAMESET cols="15%, 85%">
<FRAME src="menu.html" title="Navigation menu" name="menu">
<FRAME src="content1.html" title="Main content" name="content">
<NOFRAMES> <P>This frameset document contains:
<UL> <LI><A href="menu.html">Page navigation</A></LI>
<LI><A href="content1.html">Main content</A></LI> </UL>
</NOFRAMES> </FRAMESET>

The WAC recommends including the <NOFRAME> tag (as shown above) to allow users who do not have frames enabled to still see the content that is displayed within the frame. This also provides users a method of "opting out" of your frame-based site, without losing access to the site content.

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