: The Media or Image Source element
The HTML element specifies multiple media resources for the , the element, or the element. It is a void element, meaning that it has no content and does not have a closing tag. It is commonly used to offer the same media content in multiple file formats in order to provide compatibility with a broad range of browsers given their differing support for image file formats and media file formats.
Try it
Attributes
This element includes the global attributes.
Address of the media resource.
A list of one or more strings, separated by commas, indicating a set of possible images represented by the source for the browser to use. Each string is composed of:
- One URL specifying an image.
- A width descriptor, which consists of a string containing a positive integer directly followed by «w» , such as 300w . The default value, if missing, is the infinity.
- A pixel density descriptor, that is a positive floating number directly followed by «x» . The default value, if missing, is 1x .
Each string in the list must have at least a width descriptor or a pixel density descriptor to be valid. The two types of descriptors should not be mixed together and only one should be used consistently throughout the list. Among the list, the value of each descriptor must be unique. The browser chooses the most adequate image to display at a given point of time. If the sizes attribute is present, then a width descriptor must be specified for each string. If the browser does not support srcset , then src will be used for the default source.
A list of source sizes that describes the final rendered width of the image represented by the source. Each source size consists of a comma-separated list of media condition-length pairs. Before laying the page out, the browser uses this information to determine which image is defined in srcset to use. Please note that sizes will have its effect only if width dimension descriptors are provided with srcset instead of pixel ratio values (200w instead of 2x for example).
Media query of the resource’s intended media.
The intrinsic height of the image, in pixels. Must be an integer without a unit.
The intrinsic width of the image in pixels. Must be an integer without a unit.
If the type attribute isn’t specified, the media’s type is retrieved from the server and checked to see if the user agent can handle it; if it can’t be rendered, the next is checked. If the type attribute is specified, it’s compared against the types the user agent can present, and if it’s not recognized, the server doesn’t even get queried; instead, the next element is checked at once.
When used in the context of a element, the browser will fall back to using the image specified by the element’s child if it is unable to find a suitable image to use after examining every provided .
Usage notes
The
For information about image formats supported by web browsers and guidance on selecting appropriate formats to use, see our Image file type and format guide on the web. For details on the video and audio media types you can use, see the Guide to media types formats used on the web.
Examples
Video example
This example demonstrates how to offer a video in Ogg format for users whose browsers support Ogg format, and a QuickTime format video for users whose browsers support that. If the audio or video element is not supported by the browser, a notice is displayed instead. If the browser supports the element but does not support any of the specified formats, an error event is raised and the default media controls (if enabled) will indicate an error. Be sure to reference our guide to media types and formats on the web for details on what media file formats you can use and how well they’re supported by browsers.
video controls> source src="foo.webm" type="video/webm" /> source src="foo.ogg" type="video/ogg" /> source src="foo.mov" type="video/quicktime" /> I'm sorry; your browser doesn't support HTML video. video>
For more examples, the learning area article Video and audio content is a great resource.
Picture example
picture> source srcset="mdn-logo-wide.png" media="(min-width: 800px)" /> source srcset="mdn-logo-medium.png" media="(min-width: 600px)" /> img src="mdn-logo-narrow.png" alt="MDN Web Docs" /> picture>
With the element, you must always include an with a fallback image, with an alt attribute to ensure accessibility (unless the image is an irrelevant background decorative image).
Picture with height & width attributes example
In this example, three elements with height and width attributes are included in a element. A media query allows the browser to select an image to display with the height and width attributes based on the viewport size.
picture> source srcset="landscape.png" media="(min-width: 1000px)" width="1000" height="400" /> source srcset="square.png" media="(min-width: 800px)" width="800" height="800" /> source srcset="portrait.png" media="(min-width: 600px)" width="600" height="800" /> img src="fallback.png" alt="Image used when the browser does not support the sources" width="500" height="400" /> picture>
Specifications
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser
See also
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This page was last modified on Jul 5, 2023 by MDN contributors.
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HTML
Tag
The tag is used to embed an image in an HTML page.
Images are not technically inserted into a web page; images are linked to web pages. The tag creates a holding space for the referenced image.
The tag has two required attributes:
- src — Specifies the path to the image
- alt — Specifies an alternate text for the image, if the image for some reason cannot be displayed
Note: Also, always specify the width and height of an image. If width and height are not specified, the page might flicker while the image loads.
Tip: To link an image to another document, simply nest the tag inside an tag (see example below).
Browser Support
Attributes
Attribute | Value | Description |
---|---|---|
alt | text | Specifies an alternate text for an image |
crossorigin | anonymous use-credentials | Allow images from third-party sites that allow cross-origin access to be used with canvas |
height | pixels | Specifies the height of an image |
ismap | ismap | Specifies an image as a server-side image map |
loading | eager lazy | Specifies whether a browser should load an image immediately or to defer loading of images until some conditions are met |
longdesc | URL | Specifies a URL to a detailed description of an image |
referrerpolicy | no-referrer no-referrer-when-downgrade origin origin-when-cross-origin unsafe-url | Specifies which referrer information to use when fetching an image |
sizes | sizes | Specifies image sizes for different page layouts |
src | URL | Specifies the path to the image |
srcset | URL-list | Specifies a list of image files to use in different situations |
usemap | #mapname | Specifies an image as a client-side image map |
width | pixels | Specifies the width of an image |