The HTML Anchor Tag Shape attribute <shape> defines the shape of the link, within an image or object, which can be clicked.
In other words we can say that by using the HTML Anchor Tag Shape Attribute we define the shape of clickable area within an image or object.
HTML Anchor Tag Shape Attribute is always used with the HTML Anchor Tag Coords attribute to define the shape, size and even the placement of the link in the area.
HTML Anchor Tag Shape Attribute Syntax
<a shape=”default|rect|circle|poly”>
HTML Anchor Tag Shape Attribute Values
| HTML Anchor Tag Shape Attribute Values | Description |
| Default | Specifies that the entire region within an image is clickable |
| Rect | Specifies a rectangular clickable region within the image |
| Circle | Specifies a circular clickable region within the image |
| Poly | Specifies a polygonal clickable region within the image |
HTML Anchor Tag Shape Attribute Example
| HTML Area Shape attribute Code | Output |
<p>Click on the shapes to watch them:</p> <img src=" HTMLAreaTagEx.gif" alt="Shapes" usemap="#shapemap" width="145" height="126"> <map name="shapemap"> <a shape="circle" coords="25,30,12" href="Circle.jpg" target=_blank> <a shape="rect" coords="62,30,82,40" href="triangle.jpg" target=_blank > <a shape="circle" coords="115,35,10" href="star.jpg" target=_blank > </map> |
Click on the shapes to watch them:
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Here in the above HTML Anchor Tag Shape Attribute example we can see that we have defined the “Circle” and “Star” containing image areas as “Circle” format and the area having the triangle as “Rect” format.
HTML Anchor Tag Shape Attribute Supporting Browsers
| S. No. | Browser | Supported(Yes/No) |
| 1 | Internet Explorer | No |
| 2 | Firefox | Yes |
| 3 | Google Chrome | No |
| 4 | Opera | Yes |
| 5 | Safari | No |