The type attribute on an <area> tag specifies the media type of the linked file.
A media type indicates the format and nature of the link or document.
A type attribute on an <area> tag. Click the monitor in the image. An image of type image/png will download.
<img src="/img/html/computer-map.png" alt="Computer" usemap="#computermap">
<map name="computermap">
<area type="image/png" download shape="rect" coords="253,142,16,2"
alt="monitor" href="/img/html/area-monitor.png">
</map>
A media type, formerly known as a MIME type, indicates the format and nature of a file.
Browsers don't look at a link's file extension, but rather what media type it is.
A list with common media types is available on this site.
Tip: The IANA organization maintains a full list of official media types.
There are hundreds of media types.
These are some common types that are used on the web.
| Media Type | Description |
|---|---|
| text/html | HTML |
| image/png | PNG |
| application/pdf | |
| application/vnd.ms-excel | Excel |
| text/csv | Comma Separated Values |
| video/mp4 | MP4 |
Tip: Check our HTTP Media Types Reference for a more complete list of common media types.
<area href="URL" type="media-type" />
Note: Thetype attribute requires that href has a value.
| Value | Description |
|---|---|
| media-type | The media type of the linked page. For a page link the default is 'text/html'. |
Here is when type support started for each browser:
 Chrome
|
1.0 | Sep 2008 |
 Firefox
|
1.0 | Sep 2002 |
 IE/Edge
|
1.0 | Aug 1995 |
 Opera
|
1.0 | Jan 2006 |
 Safari
|
1.0 | Jan 2003 |
