Clickable Image/Clickable MapA Clickable Image (or Clickable Map) is a graphic found on a World Wide Web page that can be used to take the user to a new location in the same way as a hypertext link. A clickable image appears different from a regular graphic on a browser by being highlighted by a box. Clickable images are often used on the first page of a series of pages to provide an index of the information to follow, and as directional maps.
Clickable images are often found at the top of a WWW page, appearing as a large banner graphics. They often contain a menu of the contents of following pages, and they let users jump from page to page without having to scroll down a page to find relevant hypertext links. A simple graphic becomes clickable (i.e., able to carry a user to another site) when coordinates within the image are specified as URLs. URLs are addresses of the destination to be reached when a hypertext link is clicked.
Although the two terms are often used interchangeably, a clickable image refers to a graphic which contains links to other topics. These often appear in the form of text. A clickable map more commonly refers to a map that can be clicked to take the user to a more specific location. This is comparable to viewing a map with an increasingly strong magnifying glass.
Clickable maps are an example of how complex information can be sent to a server and processed through a gateway program which sends the information back to the server to be returned to the client. In order for a clickable image to run on a local machine, the client must be able to measure the coordinates of the mouse as it glides across a clickable map. When a point on the map is clicked on, the client must be able to send the information to an HTTP server gateway program (HTTP is the protocol used by the WWW to define communication between the client and the server). In addition, a gateway must be on the server that can interpret the data, and there must be a database on the server which links the image coordinates to the appropriate URL.
Although there are many steps involved in successfully creating a clickable image or map, it is not difficult to create one. The University of Texas at Austin provides detailed instructions on Web publishing under Learning to Publish, including a description of how to create clickable images and maps. The following is a brief summary of the steps involved:
Clickable images can provide a nice addition to a WWW page. A well-designed clickable image can make a page more appealing to the eye, and in some cases, more user friendly. However, anyone wishing to include a clickable image in a page should bear in mind that users often become frustrated when a page is overloaded with graphics. In addition, only users who view WWW pages with a graphical browser can use these at all. For that reason, the page designer should include a textual listing of all information provided in the clickable image. A quick tour of randomly chosen Internet sites will reveal examples of clickable images and maps that have been well designed--or not. See the above references for examples of some well-designed clickable images.