[WEB4LIB] Re: Using framesets

[jcichewicz at tln.lib.mi.us]

As I was going to add and so quickly hit my send button that I
didn't!  Frames don't fit web accessibility guideline unless you also
maintain a noframes version.

Sorry for the first one!

Joy


On Mon, 9 Oct 2000, Michael Mayo wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Floyd Ingram" <floyd at coatopa.com>
> > I am seeking pros and cons on using creating frames (or framesets)
> for a
> > website.
> > What are the pros?
> > What are the cons?
> 
>     There are two main reasons why you would want to use frames; speed
> and ease of administration.
> 
>     The main reason people use frames is the speed advantage.  Instead
> of loading 3-4 page elements every time the user takes an action, only
> 1 page element needs to be sent to the user.  Furthermore, the load on
> your server has now been  / 3, allowing you to serve more pages and
> further increasing the site's responsiveness.  This can be useful for
> high-volume dynamic sites where most of the time is taken up serving
> the dynamic content.  It's not so useful for static sites.  An example
> of a site that uses frames this way is http://games.swirve.com/earth/
> (free registration)
> 
>     A secondary use of frames is ease of administration.  If you have
> many pages in book-like format (links to sections listed in one area;
> actual sections displayed in another), maintaining the "links to
> sections" parts can be difficult.  Frames can make this easier by
> separating the navagation and content elements of the page.  Of
> course, the "correct" solution in this case is to use a content
> management tool or SSI.  But, if you can't use either, frames are a
> possible last resort. An example of a site that uses frames this way
> is http://www.pcguide.com.
> 
>     There are many disadvantages to using frames; decreased usability,
> poor degradability (users who have turned frames off or with
> non-frames browsers won't see anything at all unless you make a
> non-frames version of your entire site - 2x the administration just to
> use frames!), and problems with search engines.  For these reasons,
> it's a good idea to avoid frames unless you need them for one of the
> above reasons (speed or administration).
> 
>                    -Mike
> 

Joy Cichewicz 
Electronic Services Librarian
Brighton District Library
810-229-8924, ext. 219
http://www.brighton.lib.mi.us