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Schedule

Intro

Topic:

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Project Guidelines

Index

The Problem with Frames

Frames have enjoyed wide popularity in recent years. They do give a designer a way to control presentation of a page. Dave Raggett expresses the enthusiasm many feel about using frames when he concludes that the frame format "makes possible a quantum jump in sophistication."

However, there are some problems when using frames:

1. In a frameset your viewer cannot bookmark a particular page, only the first URL.
2. In a frameset your viewer cannot link to your particular page, only to the first URL.
3. Viewers may have problems trying to print your page when it is in a frameset.

If your viewer knows to right click and open the frame in a new window, she or he may get around these first three problems. However, why create a frame when your viewer has to break out of it to find it useful? There is also a way to handle this problem using a cgi script. However, in my opinion there are better and more fun uses for cgi scripts. That is a lot of work just to make your framed site usable.

5. Browsers vary quite a bit in how they display frames. Even though the frame looks elegant on your monitor, the text and pictures may not fit inside the frames the same way on another monitor.

Return to Unit 8

Frame Security

5. There has been word of a security problem for framesets, described by the article at All Things Web.
6. Text-based browsers and screen readers cannot read frames. If you are designing a site that requires accessibility you must provide a <noframes> alternative. In addition, some search engines will not consider your page if there is only a frameset without an alternative

A List Apart

These problems can discourage your audience. For example, the on-line journal A List Apart has several useful articles about accessibility, web standards and design considerations. However, I have not included many references to the site because its frame format makes it difficult to link directly to the articles. Fortunately, they have recently begun to include a bookmark to non-framed versions.

After doing three sites with frames, I decided to only use frames for an intranet where I know all the computers and people could use frames.

The Advantages to Frames

Perhaps it is easier to prepare the "text-only" frames that go in your set since you do not have to duplicate the navigation bars or banners on each page. In addition, the files posted to the site are smaller since they avoid unnecessary repetition of elements.

Perhaps some people like to scroll up and down a frame.

Perhaps frames increase the sense of interactivity on a site.

Perhaps I'll just leave a discussion of the advantages to the ListServ. What do you like about using frames? Send your ideas to the ListServ.

Continue to Notes on "alternatives">>