HTML <area> Tag
Example
An image-map, with clickable areas:
<img src="planets.gif"
width="145" height="126"
alt="Planets"
usemap="#planetmap">
<map
name="planetmap">
<area shape="rect" coords="0,0,82,126" href="sun.htm" alt="Sun">
<area shape="circle" coords="90,58,3" href="mercur.htm" alt="Mercury">
<area shape="circle" coords="124,58,8" href="venus.htm" alt="Venus">
</map>
Try it Yourself »
Definition and Usage
The <area> tag defines an area inside an image-map (an image-map is an image with clickable areas).
The <area> element is always nested inside a <map> tag.
Note: The usemap attribute in the <img> tag is associated with the <map> element's name attribute, and creates a relationship between the image and the map.
Browser Support
| Element | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <area> | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Differences Between HTML 4.01 and HTML5
HTML5 has some new attributes, and some HTML 4.01 attributes are no longer supported.
Differences Between HTML and XHTML
In HTML the <area> tag has no end tag.
In XHTML the <area> tag must be properly closed.
Attributes
| 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 | Not supported in HTML5. Specifies that an area has no associated link |
| rel | alternate author bookmark help license next nofollow noreferrer prefetch prev search tag |
Specifies the relationship between the current document and the target URL |
| shape |
default rect circle poly |
Specifies the shape of the area |
| target | _blank _parent _self _top framename |
Specifies where to open the target URL |
| type | media_type | Specifies the media type of the target URL |
Global Attributes
The <area> tag also supports the Global Attributes in HTML.
Event Attributes
The <area> tag also supports the Event Attributes in HTML.
Related Pages
HTML DOM reference: Area Object
Default CSS Settings
Most browsers will display the <area> element with the following default values:
area {
display: none;
}
