Image map
with no name
attribute
Screen reader compatibility
HTML
Sep 11, 2022
Expected Result: causes problems in some screen readers
Actual Result: causes problems in 81 screen reader / browser combinations
For expected failures, the results show which AT combos the failures affect. Results are recorded from the user's viewpoint, so describe the user impact of authoring errors.
Code used for this test:
<img src='1234.png' alt='this is alt text' usemap='#area_alt_map1'>
<map id='area_alt_map1'>
<area alt='this is left alt text' coords='0,0,100,100' href='left_arrow.htm' target='frame1'></area>
<area alt='this is right alt text' coords='200,0,300,100' href='right_arrow.htm' target='frame1'></area>
</map>
Change History
Last updated: September 11, 2022
NVDA with Chrome Causes problems from NVDA 2018.4 to NVDA 2022.2
NVDA with IE Causes problems in NVDA 2019.2
NVDA with FF Better - caused problems in NVDA 2016.2, but now OK in NVDA 2022.2
JAWS with Chrome Causes problems from JAWS 2018.1811.2 to JAWS 2022.2207.25
JAWS with IE Stable - OK from JAWS 13.0.852 to JAWS 2019.1912.1
JAWS with FF Better - caused problems in JAWS 2018.1811.2, but now OK in JAWS 2022.2207.25
VoiceOver macOS Causes problems from VoiceOver macOS 10.9 to VoiceOver macOS 12.5
VoiceOver iOS Causes problems from VoiceOver iOS 7.1 to VoiceOver iOS 15.6
WindowEyes with IE Better - caused problems in WindowEyes 8.4, but now OK in WindowEyes 9.2
Dolphin with IE OK in Dolphin SR 15.05
SaToGo with IE OK in SaToGo 3.4.96.0
Screen reader | Browser | Mode | Notes | What the user hears |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Chrome 105 | Reading | No indication AREA links exist | Graphic, this is alt text. |
![]() | Chrome 105 | Tabbing | Silence - no indication image of AREA links exist | |
![]() | FF102 | Reading | This is alt text, graphic, this is alt text. This is alt text, graphic link, this is left alt text. This is alt text, graphic link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | FF102 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, link, this is alt text graphic. This is right alt text, link, this is alt text graphic | |
![]() | Edge 105 | Reading | No indication AREA links exist | Graphic, this is alt text. |
![]() | Edge 105 | Tabbing | Silence - no indication image of AREA links exist | |
![]() | Chrome 94 | Reading | No indication AREA links exist | Graphic, this is alt text. |
![]() | Chrome 94 | Tabbing | Silence - no indication image of AREA links exist | |
![]() | FF91 | Reading | This is alt text, graphic, this is alt text. This is alt text, graphic link, this is left alt text. This is alt text, graphic link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | FF91 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, link, this is alt text graphic. This is right alt text, link, this is alt text graphic | |
![]() | Edge 94 | Reading | No indication AREA links exist | Graphic, this is alt text. |
![]() | Edge 94 | Tabbing | Silence - no indication image of AREA links exist | |
![]() | Chrome 86 | Reading | Silence - no indication image of AREA links exist | |
![]() | Chrome 86 | Tabbing | Tabbing to this link jumps to random point in document | |
![]() | FF78 | Reading | This is alt text, graphic, this is alt text. This is alt text, graphic link, this is left alt text. This is alt text, graphic link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | FF78 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, link, this is alt text graphic. This is right alt text, link, this is alt text graphic | |
![]() | Edge 92 | Reading | No indication AREA links exist | Graphic, this is alt text. |
![]() | Edge 92 | Tabbing | Silence - tabbing to this link moves focus to a random point on the page | |
![]() | Chrome 79 | Reading | No indication AREA links exist | This is alt text. |
![]() | Chrome 79 | Tabbing | Tabbing to this link jumps to random point in document | |
![]() | FF68 | Reading | This is alt text, graphic, this is alt text. This is alt text, graphic link, this is left alt text. This is alt text, graphic link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | FF68 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, link, this is alt text graphic. This is right alt text, link, this is alt text graphic | |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | Graphic, this is alt text, link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | Complete silence when tabbing between AREAs. | |
![]() | Chrome 73 | Reading | No indication AREA links exist | This is alt text. |
![]() | Chrome 73 | Tabbing | Tabbing to this link jumps to random point in document | |
![]() | FF60 | Reading | Graphic, this is alt text. This is alt text, graphic link, this is left alt text. This is alt text, graphic link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | FF60 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, link, this is alt text graphic. This is right alt text, link, this is alt text graphic | |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | Graphic, this is alt text, link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | Complete silence when tabbing between AREAs. | |
![]() | FF60 | Reading | Graphic, this is alt text. Graphic link, this is left alt text. Graphic link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | FF60 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, link, this is alt text graphic. This is right alt text, link, this is alt text graphic | |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | Graphic, this is alt text, link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | Complete silence when tabbing between AREAs. | |
![]() | FF48 | Reading | No indication AREA links exist | Graphic, this is alt text, this is alt text |
![]() | FF48 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link | |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | Graphic, this is alt text, link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | Complete silence when tabbing between AREAs. | |
![]() | FF41 | Reading | No indication AREA links exist | Graphic, this is alt text, this is alt text |
![]() | FF41 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link | |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | Graphic, this is alt text, link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | Complete silence when tabbing between AREAs. | |
![]() | FF28 | Reading | graphic, this is alt text, link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | FF28 | Tabbing | silent for second tab onto second area | This is alt text, link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text, graphic - all read for 1st link |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | graphic, this is alt text, link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | Silence when tabbing to AREA links - no indication of image map role or name | |
![]() | FF28 | Reading | graphic, this is alt text, link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | FF28 | Tabbing | silent for second tab onto second area | This is alt text, link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text, graphic - all read for 1st link |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | graphic, this is alt text, link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | Silence when tabbing to AREA links -no indication of image map role or name | |
![]() | Chrome 105 | Reading | Image map links ignored. | This is alt text, graphic. |
![]() | Chrome 105 | Tabbing | Complete silence when tabbing between AREAs. | |
![]() | FF102 | Reading | Image map link graphic, this is left alt text. Image map link graphic, this is right alt text. | |
![]() | FF102 | Tabbing | This is alt text, graphic, this is left alt text, image map link graphic. This is right alt text, image map link graphic. | |
![]() | Edge 105 | Reading | Image map links ignored. | This is alt text, graphic. |
![]() | Edge 105 | Tabbing | Complete silence when tabbing between AREAs. | |
![]() | Chrome 94 | Reading | Image map links ignored. | This is alt text, graphic. |
![]() | Chrome 94 | Tabbing | Complete silence when tabbing between AREAs. | |
![]() | FF91 | Reading | Image map link graphic, this is left alt text. Image map link graphic, this is right alt text. | |
![]() | FF91 | Tabbing | This is alt text, graphic, this is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link. | |
![]() | Edge 94 | Reading | Image map links ignored. | This is alt text, graphic. |
![]() | Edge 94 | Tabbing | Complete silence when tabbing between AREAs. | |
![]() | Chrome 86 | Reading | Image map ignored. | |
![]() | Chrome 86 | Tabbing | Complete silence when tabbing between AREAs. | |
![]() | FF78 | Reading | Image map link graphic, this is left alt text. Image map link graphic, this is right alt text. | |
![]() | FF78 | Tabbing | This is alt text, graphic, this is left alt text, image map link graphic. This is right alt text, image map link graphic. | |
![]() | Edge 92 | Reading | Image map links ignored. | This is alt text, graphic. |
![]() | Edge 92 | Tabbing | Complete silence when tabbing between AREAs. | |
![]() | Chrome 79 | Reading | Image map ignored. | |
![]() | Chrome 79 | Tabbing | Some image map links ignored, and ARIA alt text not read. | Right underline arrow, image map link. Silence. |
![]() | FF68 | Reading | Image map link graphic, this is left alt text. Image map link graphic, this is right alt text. | |
![]() | FF68 | Tabbing | This is alt text, graphic, this is left alt text, image map link graphic. This is right alt text, image map link graphic. | |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | This is alt text, graphic. Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, image map link. This is right alt text, image map link | |
![]() | Chrome 73 | Reading | Image map ignored. | |
![]() | Chrome 73 | Tabbing | Some image map links ignored, and ARIA alt text not read. | Tab, right underline arrow, image map link. Tab. |
![]() | FF60 | Reading | Alt ignored and link URL gibberish read out. | Image map link graphic, left underline arrow. Image map link graphic, right underline arrow. |
![]() | FF60 | Tabbing | Tab, this is alt text, graphic, this is left alt text, image map link graphic. Tab, this is right alt text, image map link graphic. | |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | Graphic, this is alt text. Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | Tab, this is left alt text, image map link. Tab, this is right alt text, image map link | |
![]() | FF52 | Reading | No link role read out - no indication graphics are links. | Graphic, this is alt text. Graphic, this is left alt text. Graphic, this is right alt text. |
![]() | FF52 | Tabbing | Tab, this is alt text, graphic, this is left alt text, image map. Tab, this is right alt text, image map | |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | Graphic, this is alt text. Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | Tab, this is left alt text, image map link. Tab, this is right alt text, image map link | |
![]() | FF48 | Reading | No link role read out - no indication graphics are links. | Graphic, this is alt text. Graphic, this is left alt text. Graphic, this is right alt text. |
![]() | FF48 | Tabbing | This is alt text, graphic, this is left alt text, image map. This is right alt text, image map | |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | Graphic, this is alt text. Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, image map link. This is right alt text, image map link | |
![]() | FF41 | Reading | No link role read out - no indication graphics are links. | Graphic, this is left alt text, this is right alt text. Graphic, this is left alt text. Graphic, this is right alt text |
![]() | FF41 | Tabbing | This is alt text, graphic, this is left alt text, image map. This is right alt text, image map | |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | Graphic, this is alt text. Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, image map link. This is right alt text, image map link | |
![]() | FF29 | Reading | No link role read out - no indication graphics are links. | Graphic, this is left alt text, this is right alt text. Graphic, this is left alt text. Graphic, this is right alt text |
![]() | FF29 | Tabbing | silence for second tab | This is left alt text, this is right alt text, image map |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | Graphic, this is alt text. Image map link, this is left alt text. Image map link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, image map link. This is right alt text, image map link | |
![]() | FF29 | Reading | No link role read out - no indication graphics are links | Graphic, this is left alt text, this is right alt text. Graphic, this is left alt text. Graphic, this is right alt text |
![]() | FF29 | Tabbing | silence for second tab | This is left alt text, this is right alt text, image map |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | graphic, this is alt text, image map link, this is left alt text, image map link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, image map link, this is right alt text, image map link | |
![]() | FF28 | Reading | no indication of image map links | graphic, this is alt text |
![]() | FF28 | Tabbing | wrong alt read out when tabbing | This is alt text, graphic, for first area, silence for second area |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | graphic, this is alt text, image map link, this is left alt text, image map link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, image map link, this is right alt text, image map link | |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | This is alt text. Link, this is left alt text. Link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | Link, this is left alt text. Link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | This is alt text, link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | Silence when tabbing to AREA links - no indication of image map role or name | |
![]() | Safari 15.6 | Reading | VoiceOver does not recognize image map links unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text, image map. You are currently on an image map. In, this is alt text, image map content is empty. |
![]() | Safari 15.6 | Tabbing | Skipped when tabbing. VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | |
![]() | Safari 15.0 | Reading | VoiceOver does not recognize image map links unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text, image map. You are currently on an image map. In, this is alt text, image map content is empty. |
![]() | Safari 15.0 | Tabbing | Skipped when tabbing. VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | |
![]() | Safari 14.1 | Reading | VoiceOver does not recognize image map links unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text, image map. You are currently on an image map. In, this is alt text, image map content is empty. |
![]() | Safari 14.1 | Tabbing | Skipped when tabbing. VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | |
![]() | Safari 13.0 | Reading | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text, image map. In, this is alt text, image map, content is empty. |
![]() | Safari 13.0 | Tabbing | Skipped when tabbing. VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | |
![]() | Safari 12.1 | Reading | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text, image map. In, this is alt text, image map, content is empty. |
![]() | Safari 12.1 | Tabbing | Skipped when tabbing. VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | |
![]() | Safari 10.1.2 | Reading | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text, image map. Interact with: this is alt text, image map, content is empty. |
![]() | Safari 10.1.2 | Tabbing | Skipped when tabbing. VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | |
![]() | Safari 9.1.2 | Reading | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text, image map. Interact with: this is alt text, image map, content is empty. |
![]() | Safari 9.1.2 | Tabbing | Skipped when tabbing. VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | |
![]() | Safari 8.0.6 | Reading | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text, image map. Interact with: this is alt text, image map, content is empty. |
![]() | Safari 8.0.6 | Tabbing | Skipped when tabbing. VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | |
![]() | Safari 7.0.3 | Reading | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text, image map. Interact with: this is alt text, image map, content is empty. |
![]() | Safari 7.0.3 | Tabbing | Skipped when tabbing. VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | |
![]() | Safari iOS 15.6 | Touch | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text |
![]() | Safari iOS 14.7 | Touch | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text |
![]() | Safari iOS 13.3 | Touch | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text |
![]() | Safari iOS 12.4 | Touch | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text |
![]() | Safari iOS 11.4 | Touch | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text |
![]() | Safari iOS 10.3 | Touch | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text |
![]() | Safari iOS 9.1 | Touch | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text |
![]() | Safari iOS 8.4 | Touch | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text |
![]() | Safari iOS 7.1 | Touch | VoiceOver does not recognize image maps correctly unless the map has a name attribute. | This is alt text |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | This is alt text. This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link. | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, link. This is right alt text, link | |
![]() | IE11 | Reading | link, this is left alt text, link, this is right alt text | |
![]() | IE11 | Tabbing | This is left alt text, link, this is right alt text, link |
Test notes
All tests were carried out with screen reader factory settings. JAWS in particular has a wide variety of settings controlling exactly what gets spoken.
Screen readers allow users to interact in different modes, and can produce very different results in each mode. The modes used in these tests are:
- Reading Content read using the “read next” command in a screen reader
- Tabbing Content read using the “tab” key in a screen reader
- Heading Content read using the “next heading” key in a screen reader
- Touch Content read when touching an area of screen on a mobile device
In the “What the user hears” column:
- Commas represent short pauses in screen reader voicing
- Full Stops represent places where voicing stops, and the “read next” or “tab” or “next heading” command is pressed again
- Ellipsis … represent a long pause in voicing
- (Brackets) represent voicing that requires a keystroke to hear