Image Maps and Shaped Hyperlinks

Here's someone who has coined a
new term for me:

Shaped Hyperlinks

At least, I think the term
shaped hyperlinks is
a new term. I don't find it
anywhere else.

Basically, a shaped hyperlink
is a link that takes form as
a rectangle, circle or polygon.
Furthermore, a shaped hyperlink
is one that you can give pixel-
perfect dimensions to.

In my experience, the following
seems to be true about
shaped hyperlinks:

1. As a practical matter, you
   cannot create shaped hyperlinks
   using the map element without
   an accompanying image that refers to
   the map with a usemap attribute.
2. The HTML 4.01 specification seems to imply
   that shaped hyperlinks via the map
   element are possible independent of
   any image but this does not appear to
   be so.
3. The HTML 4.01 specification seems
   to be saying that shaped hyperlinks
   are possible by adding a shape to an
   anchor element.
4. The HMTL 4.01 specification would
   have you believe that there is a practical
   use for the shape and coords attributes
   when applied to the <a> tag but there are
   no browsers that I know of that support this.
5. The only element that I know of that seems
   to make actual use of the shape and coords
   attributes is the area element.

If my writing on this topic appears to be
a bit confused, it is because I'm confused.
The HTML 4.01 spec clearly seems to be saying
that an anchor tag can be put to good
use as a shaper of links with the use of the
shape and coords attributes.

In fact, there doesn't seem to be a meaningful
use for these attributes when they are applied
to the anchor element.

Only the area element seems to make
practical use of the shape and coords
attributes.

In other words, you might as well use an
area element if you are want to make
use of the shape and coords
attributes. The area element might
make more sense because then you are not
fooling yourself into thinking you are getting
something that you are not getting.

In particular, the HTML 4.01 specification seems
to imply that block level content is possible
inside of a map element. As far as I can
tell, no such possibility exists as a practical
matter.

Of course, it makes some sense to implement this
possibility. However, nowhere do I see an
implementation of block-level content nested
inside of the map element. It's just not
a present day reality.

Are these specifications written in a vacuum?
In the future, I'm going to be more cautious when
I read these things.

There are appearances and there is reality.
Looks like I've been chasing an appearance
hoping it would turn into a reality.

Ed Abbott