Solutions: Checkpoint F, client-side image maps

Client-side image maps are acceptable. Each clickable area must be identified with its link target, and must be reachable via its tab order, just like all other links. Frequently, an alternate means of selection may prove easiest to use for all visitors. (Example: a drop-down list of states in addition to an image map of the country.)

Creating a basic client-side image map requires several steps:

• Identify an image for the map. This image is identified using the <img> tag. To identify it as a map, use the "usemap" attribute.
  
  
• Use the <MAP> tag to "areas" within the map . The <MAP> tag is a container tag that includes various <AREA> tags that are used to identify specific portions of the image.
  
  
• Use <AREA> tags to identify map regions . To identify regions within a map, simply use <AREA> tags within the <MAP> container tags.
  
  
• Making this client-side image map accessible is considerably easier to describe: simply include the "ALT" attribute and area description inside each <AREA> tag.

The following HTML demonstrates how to make a client-side image map: