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Frames Part 2: Why do web users hate frames?
Frames usage has long been and still is a controversial subject because of
·
Incompatibility with some browsers and monitors
·
Reduced usability (for the web user)
·
Technical shortcomings.
Although, some of the
issues have been addressed by recent browsers and experienced web designers,
frames are criticised for the following reasons.
Tracking issues
One visible URL
What happens when all the pages
or frames display the same URL? This is the biggest source of complaints from
web users.
A page using frames displays the URL of the main frameset in the address box.
This URL will be retrieved when using your familiar tracking methods of
· Cutting and
pasting a URL
·
Typing the URL in a browser window
·
Emailing a link
·
Linking to a page
·
Bookmarking.
The inability to access the address of the file
displayed on your monitor—any file other than the frameset page— makes its
future relocation difficult and sometimes impossible, especially if you don’t
know or don’t remember the pathname.
Too m any URLs
What happens when each frame has a URL?
Tracking a resource in your history navigation can be tedious. In some cases,
all the frames from a frameset will be listed. You will have a URL for the
navigation bar, search box, banner, contents, frameset, etc.
 Too
many windows
Reduced viewing area
Using numerous frames takes valuable
space and reduces the viewing area of the contents frame. Contents is king,
don’t squeeze it into a very small window.
Confu sion
Having three or more windows displaying
different contents plus a few scrolling bars can be distracting and confusing,
especially for new users.
Complex printing methods
You cannot use familiar methods for printing. If you use your
Print button, you may end up with a page for each frame: index, search
box, logo, content.
Printing frames demand new strategies. More mouse clicks. When you use the
Print menu in Internet Explorer, you have to select an option from
a choice of: As laid out on screen, Only the selected Frame or All
Frames individually.
Tip: To print just one frame, right click the frame, then select
Print.
Outbound link loaded within your frame
When you click on an outbound link, the site requested appears within your
frame. This situation causes several issues:
Copyrights
When the URL of the outbound link is not visible, the author of the linked
website is deprived of copyrights and cannot take credit for the contents.
This could even end up in a legal battle.
Loss of repeat visit opportunities
The visitor cannot note or bookmark the URL of the outbound link for
future reference or repeat visit because it is not visible.
Snowball effect
Open a few outbound links from sites also using frames. You will have a
compound effect of frames nestled in frames. This snowball effect would reduce
considerably the viewing area of the contents of your links.
Security
Imagine having hackers requesting credit card information using a reputable
bank’s frameset or worse, using YOUR site. Frame-spoofing refers to the
fraudulent act of inserting unauthorised content into another website’s frame
to disguise the origin of the content. Image how your credibility and security
could be undermined if you were spoofed.
Search engine problems
Poor ranking
The frameset is the first page a search
engine spider finds when crawling. If this frameset contains only instructions
and no contents information in the <noframes> tag, the spider may ignore the
site without indexing it.
Dead-end page
This happens when a search engine indexes and retrieves an individual page
out of context, without the main frameset. This situation can also arise when
you recall a page from your history navigation. In these cases, unless the
page is designed to stand alone, you can’t find your way out having no
navigation tools or reference to the rest of the site.
Initial download time
A homepage using frames takes longer to download than a single page because
it contains several pages. This can give an unfavourable first impression and
even shy away new visitors.
Increased page count
Each frameset is counted as an additional page because it is saved in HTML.
For this reason, if you are using services based on page count, the cost can
substantially increase if you use several framesets on your site.
Accessibility
Palmtops do not support frames because of the small size of the screen.
Furthermore, some assistive devices used by visually impaired web users do
not interact well with frames.
Boycotted site
The 'Noframes' advocates can boycott your site simply because you use
frames.
Aesthetics
Scrolling bars are cumbersome and not aesthetic. Tip: Use
borderless frames when possible.
Henriette Martel-Lawson is the author of the book
200 Marketing Ideas for Your
Website. You can find more articles on
www.marketingcues.com. © 2003 Henriette Martel-Lawson
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