Accordion
The accordion is a vertically stacked set of interactive headings that each contain a title representing a section of content.
Accordions can also be a useful design element when dealing with complex interfaces or displaying large amounts of data.
They can help to organize information by adding an additional layer of hierarchy to the page.
At its most granular form an accordion can be broken down into an individual component. This can be referred to as a drawer. This is made up of a drawer header and content panel.
TODO: Change text colour to black
Use FontAwesome icon
Drawers within an accordion have three different states: collapsed, hover and expanded.
- Collapsed state: The title should be clearly identifiable in bold with the arrow pointing down, showing the direction that content will expand.
- Hover state: Interacting with the component triggers the hover state. Examples of a hover state could be changing the background colour.
- Expanded state: The content panel has expanded showing content. The title should be clearly identifiable in bold with the arrow pointing up, the direction that content will collapse.
Anatomy
According to specific need the chevron can be placed at the right side too (e.g. in mobile).
How to use
Desktop
- On click, the drawer expands with a fade-in animation.
- (Optional) On click, when a drawer opens, the previous one, if expanded, collapses.
Mobile
- (Optional) On tap, when a drawer opens, the previous one, if expanded, collapses.
- (Optional) On tap, when a drawer opens it scrolls-up at the top of the screen.
Accessibility
If you’re using a screen reader with Javascript turned on, you should be able to navigate the accordion in the same way as the tab pattern, as follows:
- Use the tab key on your keyboard to access the drawer header.
- Use the return key to expand the drawer.
- On selection, keyboard focus is pushed to the content within the content panel.
When to use
- The title of the accordion must always be labelled bold to show there’s an interaction.
- An accordion must always expand information below the title.
- An accordion must always have the same width.
- Use accordions to organize information
- Use accordions to reduce the amount of scrolling required
- Use to reduce the amount of information displayed on the screen at once
When not to use
- Do not use accordions for unrelated content, non-hierarchical information, or content that doesn’t benefit from being collapsible
- The arrows do not face the way the content will expand (when in the default state) or collapse (when in its expanded state)