Using sprites with IMG tag?

Question

I understand how to use sprites, however, isn't a "src" attribute required for IMG tags? I could always use a SPAN or other tag and set the background/width/etc but it won't be semantically correct.

Basically, I'd like to omit the SRC for an IMG tag and use just sprites, but am concerned about the HTML not being technically valid because of it. Thanks.

Solution 1

About semantical correctness:

When an image has semantical meaning, so it is considered to be content, use an IMG tag, without sprites, and a correctly set up ALT.

When an image is just decoration, like the background of a box, background of a button, background of a menu option, etc., it has no semantical meaning, so you can just use it as a background of a SPAN, DIV, etc. from CSS. You can use sprites in this case.

Solution 2

Using sprites doesn't necessarily mean you need to define them in css backgrounds. You can also use IMG tag sprites, to do so you need basically trim your image. There are two good articles explaining that technique:

http://tjkdesign.com/articles/how-to_use_sprites_with_my_Image_Replacement_technique.asp

http://www.artzstudio.com/2010/04/img-sprites-high-contrast/

Both CSS and IMG methods sure have their own benefits, so you need to figure out which one suits you better.

Solution 3

I use a 1x1 transparent gif (so called spacer) for the src. then set the background image for that img tag with the corresponding bg position. this way you're utilizing the speed of sprites and keeping the semantic of your code (you can still use the alt attribute)

Solution 4

I could always use a SPAN or other tag and set the background/width/etc but it won't be semantically correct

Actually there is nothing wrong about using CSS to set the background of a span or div. It would actually be incorrect syntactically to omit the src from an image, as that is the whole point of the tag. There is nothing in the standards saying you have to put text inside a span. Syntactically speaking, modifying the background on an element would be the most "correct" way to do it.

Here is the ref on img tags over at W3C: http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/objects.html#h-13.2

And a little extra reading: http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/struct/global.html#h-7.5.3

These elements define content to be inline (SPAN) or block-level (DIV) but impose no other presentational idioms on the content. Thus, authors may use these elements in conjunction with style sheets, the lang attribute, etc., to tailor HTML to their own needs and tastes.

Solution 5

You can either use CSS backgrounds, or HTML Canvas elements to dynamically draw upon. With canvas's you have the ability to easily subset images and perform blend mode effects.

View more solutions

Comments

[dialex]

Is it possible to use sprites inside img tags? That way we could have the speed of sprites and the alt attribute. I have a lot of small buttons, so they are not decorative (must use img?) but waste too much time being individually loaded (must use sprite?). What a dilemma!

[kapa]

@DiAlex If you have small buttons, use the button or input tag with a background image.

[kapa]

@DiAlex Refer to the HTML5 spec, you may find some interesting tags to use.

[Tio Felix]

I know this is an old question, but i just really want to thank you for these two articles, both are great, and really gave me what i was looking for. Thank you and i hope this question doesn't bump because of me.

[Dario Fumagalli]

It's odd I haven't seen this kind of solution in other blogs. I tested it and it works!

[Paul]

I came up with the solution myself. As far as I know its the only solution working with <a> and <img> tags. I needed that for SEO. It also works with bigger sprites containing several icons on the same sprite, just positioning it with css.

[Dario Fumagalli]

Well, there is also this other, highly cross browser solution that lets achieve good results and keep image semantics, even if it might take longer to setup.

[Richard]

I'm just converting my own site from <img> to <div> image sprites for this reason - not having to use a transparent.png image for the image src mean fewer HTTP requests. Who says I'm pedantic...?

[Davide Andrea]

I do it that way as well, but that's an extra image that causes an HTML request; and the number of HTML requests is exactly what we're trying to minimize by using sprites. That's why I don't want to have a "spacer" in the image.

[Shanimal]

both links seem to be dead

[Bret]

Here are two archived snapshots of those: * web.archive.org/web/20170212063839/http://www.cssmojo.com/… * web.archive.org/web/20130726060548/http://www.artzstudio.com‌​/…

[wchargin]

@DavideAndrea: To avoid HTTP requests, you can use a data URI for the image; see stackoverflow.com/a/13139830.