Inline frame title

The inline frame title is the accessible name of an <iframe> element, conveyed via the title, aria-label, or aria-labelledby attribute. This is the text that screen readers announce to identify the content of an embedded frame. RGAA dedicates two criteria to it: the frame must have a title (2.1), and that title must accurately describe the actual frame content (2.2).

Your page contains three <iframe> elements. A screen reader user opens the frames list and sees: "frame", "frame", "frame". Impossible to know which is a video, which is a map, which is a contact form.

#What an RGAA audit verifies

The RGAA dedicates its topic 2 to frames, with two criteria:

Criterion 2.1: does each frame have a title?
Criterion 2.2: is that title relevant?

The first is binary. The second requires judgment: a "relevant" title describes the actual frame content, not its technical nature or the name of the platform hosting it. On the WCAG side, the frame title satisfies criteria 2.4.1 (bypass blocks) and 4.1.2 (name, role, value), both at level A.

Technically, the frame title corresponds to the accessible name of the <iframe>. The title attribute is the most common method, but aria-label and aria-labelledby work as well.

#Writing a good frame title

Screen readers allow you to list all frames on a page. Without a title, each entry in the list displays "frame", a filename, or a URL. With a generic title, all entries look the same.

<!-- ❌ Generic title provided by YouTube -->
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  title="YouTube video player"></iframe>
 
<!-- ✅ Title that describes the actual content -->
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dQw4w9WgXcQ"
  title="Video: introduction to audio description"></iframe>
 
<!-- ❌ Platform name alone -->
<iframe src="https://maps.google.com/..."
  title="Google Maps"></iframe>
 
<!-- ✅ Specific location -->
<iframe src="https://maps.google.com/..."
  title="Map of our offices, 12 rue de Rivoli, Paris"></iframe>

A quick test: if two titles on the same page are interchangeable, at least one of the two is too vague.

#The embed code trap

YouTube, Spotify, Google Maps provide ready-to-paste HTML code. The title is either absent (Spotify, Google Maps) or identical for all content from the platform. YouTube, for example, puts "YouTube video player" on every video. Never publish embed code without modifying its title.

Another frequent confusion: the title attribute and the name attribute are not interchangeable. The name is used for JavaScript targeting. Only the title (or an equivalent ARIA) is announced by assistive technologies.

#In summary

The frame title is what screen readers announce when they encounter an <iframe>. The RGAA verifies that it exists (criterion 2.1) and that it accurately describes the content (criterion 2.2). Systematically modify copy-pasted embed codes before publishing them.

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Inline frame

An inline frame (iframe in HTML) embeds a web page inside another page. YouTube videos, Google Maps, booking widgets: all use iframes. For accessibility, each inline frame must have a title attribute that describes its content, so screen readers can identify it.

Document structure

Document structure is the logical organization of a web page through hierarchical headings (h1 to h6) and semantic HTML5 tags. Screen readers use them to build a navigable table of contents and allow their users to jump directly to the desired section.

Page Title

The page title is the content of the HTML <title> tag, displayed in the browser tab. It is the first information a screen reader announces when opening a page. WCAG criterion 2.4.2 (level A) requires that each page has a title describing its subject or function.