Frames need a title

• Rule: axe/frame-title
• Checks: Frames must have an accessible name
• WCAG: 4.1.2
• Fix class: content: A fix needs authored text.

Who it affects

• People who use a screen reader or a braille display, most of them blind.

How to fix it

An embedded map, video, form or widget has no title

Give the <iframe> a title that says what the frame holds, decided from its content, such as the map’s subject or the video’s topic. The framed page’s own <title> does not name the frame.

<iframe src="/embed/store-map" title="Map of our Denver store"></iframe>

A third-party script inserts the iframe

Set the title through the embed’s own option if it has one. Otherwise set the title from your code once the iframe is inserted.

The frame holds nothing for people, such as a tracking or messaging frame

Hide it with the hidden attribute or display: none, which removes it from the accessibility tree and the Tab order.

Fixes that fail

Using a generic title, such as iframe or Embedded content

axe accepts it, but screen reader users still cannot tell what the frame holds or whether to enter it.

Adding role="presentation" to a frame that shows content

axe accepts a presentational frame, but the role does not hide the frame’s document: screen readers still reach its content, now with no name.

Adding tabindex="-1" to the frame

axe skips such frames for this rule, but screen readers still read their content, and in Chrome and Firefox keyboard users can no longer tab into them.

More on the rule

axe-core’s documentation of the rule

CORA’s fix guidance adapts content from accessibility-agents, under the MIT License: see its notice.