Re: Frames and Accessibility

It is my opinion, that frames should never be used for a website as such, because a website using frames will always score lower on a long list of usability and accessibility issues compared to design using tables or CSS:

1. Frames make it more difficult to use TAB for navigating without a mouse
2. Frames make it more difficult to print
3. Frames make it more difficult to bookmark
4. Frames make it more difficult to link
5. Frames make it more difficult for search engines
6. Frames make it more difficult to make a design usable in many screen resolutions and windows sizes

Frames should only by considered for some rare instances of ONE OFF pages, where the frames add some real advantages, and today IFRAMES is probably what should be used in these rare cases.

In all my life on the web, I have only seen one good use of frames. Copenhagen Airport used frames but only on two pages, for DEPARTURES and ARRIVALS. Here frames were used in order to freeze the headlines of columns to make the content of tables readable the same way we use frozen headings for columns or rows in a spread sheet. In this rare case frames were the right solution. Sorry no URL, because the Copenhagen Airport do not use frames anymore!!!!!!!

Best regards,
Jesper Tverskov

Received on Saturday, 18 January 2003 08:41:01 UTC