[thelist] accessible imagemaps

Rickards, Julian (NDM) julian.rickards at ontario.ca
Tue Aug 29 07:09:19 CDT 2006


 Hi Matthias:

First of all, the WCAG guidelines state (I don't remember which
checkpoint) that image maps should be accompanied by a text-based list
of links. I guess the issue is that if images are disabled, the links
don't work. I know that this is true in Opera but I haven't tested image
maps in other image-disabled browsers.

I used absolute positioning to position text over appropriate areas
against a background at
http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndm/mines/ims/pub/indexes/default_e.asp. It
looks like an image map but it is just an unordered list with a
background image and absolutely positioned list items.

Jules

-----Original Message-----

Hello,
What do you think about client-side imagemaps and accessibility? I've
been avoiding imagemaps for years, probably because back when I read the
WAI guidelines, I actually didn't read the closely enough. Client-side
imagemaps (with the appropriate alt- and/or title-attribute) seem ok to
use, but I don't want to simply follow the letter blindly, but know if
I'm missing an aspect. I now have to build a template where I won't get
around a big image with clickable areas. Should I use an imagemap, or go
down a crazy route of absolutely positioned transparent pixels on top of
a background image, creating "hotspots"? I doubt this is any better, but
stole the idea from flash development anyway.

Any insight appreciated,
Matthias



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