Re: Frames and Accessibility

your third approach is the best if you can manage it and I also suggest
along with this that you allow for manual refresh.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Julian Voelcker" <asp@tvw.net>
To: <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Sent: Friday, January 17, 2003 6:31 AM
Subject: Frames and Accessibility



Hi,

I have a site that uses frames for some sections due to the nature of
the information being provided.

The main use is a large library of over 5,000 pages that are navigable
via a tree menu.  The menu is in one frame and the content is displayed
in another.

The other use is for an on line chat facility where we have three main
frames, one listing the messages that have been posted, one that
displays the messages when selected from the previous frame and then a
'hidden' frame containing a page that is refreshing every few seconds
checking to see if any new messages have been posted - if there is a
new message it refreshes the message listing page.

OK, I am now trying to convert the site so that it is as accessible as
possible using XHTML, CSS - I am aiming for WAI-AA.

The problem is I am not 100% sure what to do about the frames.

I can't realistically get rid of them totally because it degrades the
functionality for normal users too much.

So, do I..

1. Put an alternative version in the <noframes> section - this might be
a little tricky because bother areas of functionality will require
refreshing/reloading the page which will result in the frames being
continually loaded.

2. Provide an explanation in the <noframes> section and then a link to
an alternative page.

3. Provide a link to an alternative page along side the link to the
framed pages?

4. As part of our strive for accessibility we have added a page so that
users can set their own fonts, colours, etc.  We could expand that so
that users can specify whether they are happy to use frames or not and
then deliver what they can handle.

What do you think is the best approach?

Cheers,

Julian Voelcker

Received on Friday, 17 January 2003 07:01:36 UTC