area tag
The area tag, which, when implemented in the code, is written like this - <area>, is an HTML tag that belongs to image tags. Image HTML tags are used to insert images and their parts, including more interactive visuals, e.g. HTML maps and their clickable areas, captions for figures etc.
<area> defines a separate area in a clickable map. By clicking on an area defined by this tag, a user can view a smaller part of the map in more details or in a different view, whatever is provided by the content. This tag is supported in the current version of HTML, which is HTML5.
Browser support
Here you can see whether <area> is supported by a certain browser, and, if yes, starting from which version it is supported.
| Chrome | Firefox | Edge | Opera | Safari |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Is supported | Is supported | Is supported | Is supported | Is supported |
Attributes and values
An attribute is a piece of additional information about a tag. While tags denote the type of objects they mark or create, attributes set the parameters of these objects. These parameters can include anything from the types of possible interactions to its visual style to its actual contents.
Values indicate how a certain attribute is actually implemented, if there is a number of ways it can happen.
What attributes are actually allowed in a certain tag depends on the tag itself. Much like possible attributes depend on a tag, possible values depend on an attribute.
The <area> tag supports the following attributes (with their respective values):
| Attribute | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| alt | text | Specifies an alternate text for the area. Required if the href attribute is present |
| coords | coordinates | Specifies the coordinates of the area |
| download | filename | Specifies that the target will be downloaded when a user clicks on the hyperlink |
| href | URL | Specifies the hyperlink target for the area |
| hreflang | language_code | Specifies the language of the target URL |
| media | media query | Specifies what media/device the target URL is optimized for |
| nohref | value | Specifies that an area has no associated link (Not Supported in HTML5) |
| rel |
| Specifies the relationship between the current document and the target URL |
| shape |
| Specifies the shape of the area |
|
| Specifies where to open the target URL |
| media_type | media_type | Specifies the media type of the target URL |
Global Attributes
Global attributes are HTML tag attributes that can be used by any tag, hence the name "global". They are in contrast to unique attributes that are tag-specific.
<area> supports global attributes.
Event Attributes
Event attributes are HTML tag attributes that allow triggering actions upon specific conditions, hence the name "event". Other types of attributes, namely global and unique attributes, can also trigger actions, but the difference is that even attributes allow calling scripts, such as JavaScript functions, while most other attributes only support a certain type of action.
<area> supports event attributes.