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Usability: With or Without Frames?

Recent discoveries prove that the disadvantages significantly outweigh the advantages of using frames. By M.J. Serres, of ARTech's Marketing Team.

Types of frames

A frame is an area in a Web page where another Web page is displayed. A page with frames is defined as a frameset, divided into areas containing different Web sub-pages.

Frames embedded in Web pages are also called iframes or inline frames. This type of frame was introduced with Internet Explorer 3.0.

In HTML, code similar to this is used to create a frame:

FRAMESET rows="50%,*"

FRAME src="page1.html" name="frame1"

FRAME src="page2.html" name="frame2"

/FRAMESET

(Find more examples at http://wp.netscape.com/assist/net_sites/frame_syntax.html)

The iframe is very similar:

iFRAME src="contents_of_frame.html" FRAMEBORDER="0" SCROLLING="auto" name="myInlineFrame"

/iFRAMESET

Why are frames used?

As a rule they are used to hold one common area and to have another page inserted in it that can change independently of other pages in the other areas of the frameset.

They were originally used in HTML to have common areas in several pages, e.g.: headings and menus. In this way, only one page was updated and the change was reflected in all of the site's pages with frames.

Pros

Cons

  • It does not allow pages to be indexed by Internet search engines. Many search engines index the page within the frame independently from the frameset, so they may list the page within the frame as a root page similar to many others. Users will access that page without seeing the page containing it. This is something you do not want when designing a page with frames, as the frameset includes crucial information, such as the site identification and the navigation system to move within it.
  • Many search engines do not index pages with frames. That means your site will not be listed in the search engines where potential customers can find it.
  • The Back button cannot be used.
  • The page cannot be added to My Favorites list, as only the parent page is added, independently from any navigation in the page contained in the frame.
  • The page URL cannot be sent to a friend so they can see it exactly as I do. As in the previous item, I would only be sending the parent page URL.
  • Often the page contained in the frame does not print well. There are many problems with searches made within the sites.
  • Older browsers do not support frames so they do not display them.
  • The site navigation system cannot always be shown to the user. The frame areas are set independently from the size of the page contained in the frame. Therefore, if a page is smaller than the size set, space is being wasted in the frameset that could be given over to more information for the user. If the page is larger, scrolling bars are displayed.
  • Frames display scrolling bars independent from the frameset when the page contained is larger than the frame containing it. Although it can be configured to prevent the bars from appearing, they are usually displayed, or they do not show the page content completely within the frame if the user has an unexpected screen configuration or changes the size of the browser window. The consequences are:
  • Users get confused and feel lost.
  • Scrolling bars need space to appear in, so they are often covering up page content and the user has to move constantly to read the content of the page embedded in the frame.
  • Users waste time using the scrolling bars to find the content they want. Many users avoid using these bars and do not find the content they are looking for.

My advice:

Avoid using frames as much as you can. Being correctly listed in search engines is what makes the difference between having visits or not.

The exception would be sites that do not need to be listed in search engines, e.g.: Intranets. In these cases, special care must be taken when designing and configuring the frames to avoid making users feel uncomfortable or preventing them from getting to important information.

Many of the concepts stated by Nielsen in an article he wrote some years ago are still valid:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9612.html

References:

http://lois.co.uk/web/articles/frames.shtml

http://webmaster.harvard.edu/bestpractice/frames.html

http://www.designplace.org/tutorials.php?page=1&c_id=1

 

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