Image maps

Image maps (also called clickable images) are graphic images that access a specified URL when the user clicks the mouse in a specified area. This area is specified by defining its shape (polygon, circle, rectangle) and coordinates.

For example, image maps could be used to create a street map that displays information on each location when the user clicks on it. When properly used, image maps can create attractive pages that are easy for the user to navigate through.

Note: Image maps look attractive, but users that can't see the images won't be able to open the links. Some users do not or cannot display images on their browser. Visually impaired users must use browsers that convert text to sounds, making it difficult to open links. When using image maps, be sure to supplement them with normal text links.

There are two types of image maps. A client-side image map is an image map that can be processed only by the client (Web browser). Because the tag for an image map is embedded in an HTML file, it is easy to manage and use them. A server-side image map is an image map that is processed on the server (your provider's server) side. This is a system of creating map files as separate HTML files and storing them on a Web server. The specifications for such files differ according to the servers. Page Designer does not support server-side image maps.

Client-side image maps (CSIM) can be processed on the client (Web browser) side. Because HTML tags for this image map are embedded directly in an HTML file, you can easily use and manage this type of image map. However, Page Designer only supports CSIM written directly into an HTML file, even though references for specifying file names and map names of HTML files other than the map page are possible under CSIM specifications.

Related tasks
Creating image maps
Inserting images and background images

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