Server-Side Image Maps
Example of a Server-Side Image Map
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Server-side image maps are a way of taking one graphical image and creating different hot spots on the image which link to different web pages. They are usually highly complex with lots of different possible-links. For instance, a map of the United States might be a server-side image map and based on which state you click on, you are taken to a page of information about that state. Server-side image maps are usually used because the hot spots to be created are not regular geometric shapes.
The problem with server-side image maps is that there is no way to add ALT text for the different hot spot links. This makes a server-side image map impossible for users of screen-readers to understand. In order to make a server-side image map accessible, the web page developer would need to add separate text links for each possible hot spot. In the case of our United States example, this would mean putting 50 text links somewhere on the web page.
Server-side image maps are NOT recommended and therefore we do not provide any additional information about them. The UW-L web server does not support server-side image map scripts.
Example of a Server-Side Image Map
If you are on a web site that has an image map (different "clickable" hot spots on one graphic), you can tell that it is a server-side image map by watching the bottom of your browser screen while moving your mouse over it. If you see an indication of "map?X,Y" with X and Y being changing numbers as you move, you are looking at a server-side image map. It is using the X,Y coordinates of your mouse to determine where you are.
Check it out with this example of a server-side image map.
Thanks to Academic Computing at UW-OshKosh for this sample. (Please note that the links will take you to a page not found error.) The complete page on server-side image maps for UW-OshKosh can be found at http://www.acs.uwosh.edu/documentation/web/examples/imgmap/.
