Dinwiddie County Public Schools
- Date Accessed: August 15, 2003
- URL: http://www.dinwiddie.k12.va.us/
- Content: Links are available on the homepage
Web Standards
- HTML 4 or XHTML validation: DOCTYPE! was not included for frameset; 42 errors for central frame with Doctype for 4.0 transitional
- Text-Browsing: Text information in center frame is available
- Proprietary Code: Dynamic-FX Slide Menu Javascript
- Editor Used: n/a; Netscape 4.5
- Number of lines of code:32 in the main, central frame, with 42 HTML errors
This page is a hodge-podge of different versions of declared HTML.
Usability Concerns
Frames are still used on the web, and despite all the "bad" press they have received from web design "experts," they are not the worst evil. Frames are still standardized, for one, by the W3C. Yet, there is no clear reason why frames had to be used in this design.
The menu along the side of the browser is a novelty, and depending on how you have your window positioned, some of the menu may be cut-off if the window is too small.
The addition of important links in the main area below the ID is an idea; however these are not the most central of links. The idea behind frames and the slide-out menu becomes apparent later; all the content is loaded in the main frame. But no easy link back to the home page for those lone three links is possible, without using the Back button.
Accessibility Concerns
Frames aren't great for text browsers, because although you can visit each frame individually, it requires the use of the back button, and there is no real clue as to which frame is what—you have to take a stab in the dark as to which frame is what. After trying the first two, the third was the only one with content, and it was the text in the main frame, seen above. Three links, and the rest of the site is dead to us.
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Copyright © 2003 by John G. Hendron. All Rights Reserved.