[thelist] ADA, 508, accessibility and frames, etc

[Peekstok, Anna]

--
[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> They want to be ada compliant (although comments were made as to --
> "as much as we can" and I said its all or none baby).

If this is a public agency in the United States, my understanding is that
full web site accessibility is not a nicety they can choose or ignore, but a
legal requirement.

> The current
> site uses frames and I want to say this is a bad thing, but wanted to
> check for sure (for accessibility that is).

>From purely an accessibility standpoint, a couple of issues with frames are:

1. They can be confusing for users with cognitive problems (i.e., those with
brain injuries or developmental disabilities) because they "break"
conventional web navigation and bookmarking. It can be difficult for even
unimpaired users to figure out where they are in a frames site, and how to
get back there later.

2. They tend to exert too much control over the size and shape of each
window. For example, if a navigation frame runs down the left-hand side of
the page, and a user has low vision and needs to enlarge the text to be able
to read it, it may become impossible to read the navigation links in the
frame without scrolling horizontally, which is pretty darn annoying.

HTH,
Anna