Frame title
Silktide tests that every visible frame embedded in your pages has a readable title describing what it contains. Frames without titles force people using to enter and explore them just to find out what they are.
The title goes on the frame element itself, via the title attribute - a
<title> tag inside the framed page is not enough:
<!-- Missing: nothing tells assistive technology what this frame is -->
<iframe src="ad.html"></iframe>
<!-- Fixed: the title attribute names the frame -->
<iframe title="Advertisement" src="ad.html"></iframe>
Why this matters
Frames commonly hold videos, maps, advertisements, payment forms, and chat widgets. A lists the frames on a page by their titles so users can decide which to enter. Without a title, the frame is announced as an anonymous frame - or by its file name - and the user must navigate inside it and explore its contents to figure out what it is.
How to fix it
- Add a
titleattribute to each flagged<iframe>or<frame>, briefly describing its content: "Advertisement", "Video: product tour", "Live chat". - Make sure the title contains actual words - whitespace or symbols alone do not count.
- If a frame is purely technical and shows nothing, such as a tracking pixel,
hide it from assistive technology instead, for example by making it
invisible or adding
aria-hidden="true". Hidden frames do not need titles.
How Silktide tests this
- Find every
<iframe>and<frame>element on the page. - Skip frames that are invisible, and frames hidden from screen readers with
aria-hidden- assistive technology cannot select these, so they need no title. Invisible frames are common for tracking code and social plugins. - Check the remaining frames for a
titleattribute containing meaningful text, meaning at least one letter or number. A title of only spaces, punctuation, or emoji fails. - Flag each visible frame without a meaningful title.
Whether an existing title actually describes its frame is covered separately by Frame titles.