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Accordions

Groups related long content into sections shown one at a time

Accordion

Overview​

Anatomy​

Core elements​
  1. Caret: Identifies when the accordion is open or closed. Pointing down in open. Pointing right is closed.
  2. Title: Identifies the title of the accordion.
  3. Description: Additional text to provide context to the accordion content.
  4. Body: Contains the content of an accordion.
Optional header elements​
  1. Description: Additional text to provide context to the accordion content.
  2. **Info icon: **Offers additional contextual information to the accordion content on hover/click with a tooltip or modal.
  3. Counter: Counts the number of items, or number of items that require action inside the accordion.
  4. Badge: Presents users with short, important information that should be distinguished from the rest of the display.
  5. Menu icon: Allows for access to multiple controls from a single trigger.

Variants​

  • Background
  • No background
  • Chevron left
  • Chevron right

Guidelines​

When to use​

  • You have long sections of content with similar structure, such as employees within teams.
  • You want to show only one section at a time (to keep users from being overwhelmed to support progressive disclosure).

When not to use​

  • You want to display all content on the screen at once—use a card.
  • Each section has a single associated action—use a tile.
  • The information to hide is simple and doesn’t have a repeating structure—use a collapse.\\
📱 Mobile Considerations
  • Accordion components should span the full width of the screen or a full-width container within screen margins.
  • Avoid using nested accordions, as this can be difficult to navigate on smaller screens.

Behaviour​

States​

An accordion can be expanded or collapsed — this is a visual affordance. In addition, accordions have 2 interactive states that may affect the visual output. Available interactive states: default and focus.

To do

Accessibility​

Keyboard navigation considerations:​

Links must be keyboard accessible via the Tab key, show a clear indication when a header is selected and opened by pressing the Enter or space key. If a panel is collapsed the content of this must not be focusable by a keyboard until expanded. The contrast ratio of focus indicators and the background must be at least 3:1

Screen reader considerations:​

  • The accordion title should have a label to indicate that it can be clicked to open.
  • Accordion button should be usable via keyboard or screen reader
  • Content should be hidden when not visible
  • Make use of appropriate aria-hidden aria-expanded tags

Visual considerations:​

The contrast ratio between text on the accordion and the background must be at least 4.5:1 Users should be able to resize the accordion up to 200%.

Outlined Accordion Usage Guidelines:​

When to use​
Low Contrast Backgrounds​
  • Scenario: When the accordion is placed on a non-white background where the contrast between the header fill and the background is insufficient.
  • Reason: The outline helps to clearly delineate the accordion from the background, ensuring better visibility and accessibility.

Grid Layouts​
  • Scenario: When accordions are used in a grid format and require borders to differentiate between sections.
  • Example: In Employee Profile > Employment, where multiple accordions are displayed in a grid.
  • Reason: The outline provides a clear separation between different sections, improving the overall organisation and readability of the content.
When not to use​
Nested Accordions​
  • Scenario: When an outlined accordion is nested within another outlined accordion.
  • Reason: Using multiple outlined accordions within each other can create a cluttered and visually overwhelming interface. It is better to use a non-outlined accordion in such cases to maintain a clean design.