(i) Frames shall be titled with text that facilitates frame identification and navigation.
Why is this provision necessary?
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.
What is the best method for identifying
frames?
The most obvious way to accomplish this requirement is to include text within
the body of each frame that clearly identifies the frame. For instance, in the
case of the navigation bar, a web developer should consider putting words such
as "Navigational Links" at the beginning of the contents of the frame to let all
users know that the frame depicts navigational links. Providing titles like this
at the top of the contents of each frame will satisfy these requirements. An
additional measure that should be considered by agencies is to include
meaningful text in the <frame> tag's "title" attribute. Although not currently
supported by major manufacturers of assistive technology, the "title" attribute
is part of the HTML 4.0 specification and was intended to let web developers
include a description of the frame as a quote-enclosed string. Demonstrating the
use of the "title" attribute requires a basic understanding of how frames are
constructed. When frames are used in a web page, the first page that is loaded
must include a <frameset> tag that encloses the basic layout of the frames on
the page. Within the <frameset> tag, <frame> tags specify the name, initial
contents, and appearance of each separate frame. Thus, the following example
uses the "title" attribute to label one frame "Navigational Links Frame" and the
second frame "Contents Frame."
<frameset cols="30%, 60%">
<frame src="navlinks.html" name="navlinks" title="Navigational Links Frame">
<frame src="geninfo.html" name="contents_page" title="Contents Frame">
</frame>
While assistive technology does not yet widely support the "title" attribute, we recommend including this attribute in web pages using frames.
Example: ADA Technical Assistance
Program - The use of frames with “No Frames Link”
www.adata.org
