RE: frames

by "Sheila S. Ruth" <sruth(at)abs.net>

 Date:  Mon, 16 Nov 1998 14:02:25 -0500
 To:  <hwg-theory(at)mail.hwg.org>
 In-Reply-To:  hwg
  todo: View Thread, Original
> -----Original Message-----
> Assuming that this is because the list is quiet, can I ask
> you all about
> the philosophy you hold about frames? If using frames, has
> the time come to
> ignore people who use non-frame browsers, or are there still
> a substantial
> number to cater for? What are your views?
>

Aside from the non-frames capable browsers, of which a few are still in use,
I can think of a couple of good reasons for providing a noframes
alternative:

1) A surprising number of people just don't like frames. They can be a pain
to bookmark and navigate, and people with low resolution screens can't see
very much at a time in a frame. While you may think that you don't care
about alienating those visitors who are annoyed at frames, try thinking of
them as real customers instead of virtual customers. Would you alienate a
customer who walked in your door?

2) Some search engines still don't deal well with frames. If you want to
maximize your position in the search engines, a noframes section is
important.

3) I don't know this for a fact, but I can only imagine that visually
impaired people, who access the web with text-to-speech synthesis, must have
difficulty with frames. Maybe some of our visually impaired members can set
me straight if I'm wrong about this.

Sheila Ruth
Kidplay: a Family Fun Resource for Baltimore, Maryland

http://www.kidplay.com/

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