What Is An iFrame?

Date First Published: 17th February 2024

Topic: Web Design & Development

Subtopic: Web Development

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty: Medium

Difficulty Level: 5/10

CONTENTS

Uses Of iFrames
Advantages and Disadvantages Of iFrames
Example Of An iFrame

Learn more about what an iframe is in this article.

An iframe, also known as an inline frame is used to load a separate webpage within a HTML document. It is supported by HTML5 and is included in the latest HTML5 specifications.

Uses Of iFrames

iFrames are most commonly used to load content and media from another website within the page. The other website can load its own cookies and content. For example, iFrames are used to embed a YouTube video and Google Maps content.

Ads are often created with iframes. When the browser makes a request to the ad site, it loads an ad and tracks the viewer. Although gifs and images are static elements, a fully embedded HTML document allows for scripting. Third-party web analytics tools may use a hidden iframe to monitor the user without being visible.

An iframe can also be used to load dynamic content so that content can be loaded without navigating away from the main page. Using an iframe for dynamic content is simple, but it is becoming less common. Instead, dynamic web content is more commonly created using technologies, like AJAX and dynamic HTML which is more interactive than using an iframe to load another static page.

Advantages and Disadvantages Of iFrames

The advantages of iframes are:

They are well-supported across different web browsers and operating systems.
They are easy to use. iFrames only require a few lines of code to embed external content in a webpage.
It saves storage space. By using iframes, external content can be displayed on a website without having to upload it to a server.

The disadvantages of iframes are:

They can create accessibility issues for users with disabilities. For example, screen readers may have trouble reading the content within the iframe window, which can make it harder for users to access the embedded content.
They can slow down the loading time of webpages, especially when embedding large files, such as high-resolution images or videos. This can become a problem for devices with limited memory or processing power.
They can lead to SEO issues. iFrames can affect the SEO ranking of websites because search engines may not be able to crawl and index the embedded content.