Unofficial
Internal
Components
Back link
Use the back link component to help users go back to the previous page in a multi-page transaction.
Props
| Name | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| id | other | 'id' attribute to place on the base HTML element | |
| classBlock | other | Block name override in BEM style classes applied to all elements | |
| classModifiers | other | BEM style modifiers to apply to the base HTML element | |
| className | other | Extra classes to apply to the base HTML element | |
| download | other | ||
| href | other | The location to link to | |
| hrefLang | other | ||
| media | other | ||
| ping | other | ||
| target | other | ||
| type | other | ||
| referrerPolicy | other | ||
| defaultChecked | other | ||
| defaultValue | other | ||
| suppressContentEditableWarning | other | ||
| suppressHydrationWarning | other | ||
| accessKey | other | ||
| autoCapitalize | other | ||
| autoFocus | other | ||
| contentEditable | other | ||
| contextMenu | other | ||
| dir | other | ||
| draggable | other | ||
| enterKeyHint | other | ||
| hidden | other | ||
| lang | other | ||
| nonce | other | ||
| slot | other | ||
| spellCheck | other | ||
| style | other | ||
| tabIndex | other | ||
| title | other | The title of the link | |
| translate | other | ||
| radioGroup | other | ||
| role | other | ||
| about | other | ||
| content | other | ||
| datatype | other | ||
| inlist | other | ||
| prefix | other | ||
| property | other | ||
| rel | other | ||
| resource | other | ||
| rev | other | ||
| typeof | other | ||
| vocab | other | ||
| autoCorrect | other | ||
| autoSave | other | ||
| color | other | ||
| itemProp | other | ||
| itemScope | other | ||
| itemType | other | ||
| itemID | other | ||
| itemRef | other | ||
| results | other | ||
| security | other | ||
| unselectable | other | ||
| inputMode | other | Hints at the type of data that might be entered by the user while editing the element or its contents | |
| is | other | Specify that a standard HTML element should behave like a defined custom built-in element | |
| exportparts | other | ||
| part | other | ||
| aria-activedescendant | other | Identifies the currently active element when DOM focus is on a composite widget, textbox, group, or application. | |
| aria-atomic | other | Indicates whether assistive technologies will present all, or only parts of, the changed region based on the change notifications defined by the aria-relevant attribute. | |
| aria-autocomplete | other | Indicates whether inputting text could trigger display of one or more predictions of the user's intended value for an input and specifies how predictions would be presented if they are made. | |
| aria-braillelabel | other | Defines a string value that labels the current element, which is intended to be converted into Braille. | |
| aria-brailleroledescription | other | Defines a human-readable, author-localized abbreviated description for the role of an element, which is intended to be converted into Braille. | |
| aria-busy | other | ||
| aria-checked | other | Indicates the current "checked" state of checkboxes, radio buttons, and other widgets. | |
| aria-colcount | other | Defines the total number of columns in a table, grid, or treegrid. | |
| aria-colindex | other | Defines an element's column index or position with respect to the total number of columns within a table, grid, or treegrid. | |
| aria-colindextext | other | Defines a human readable text alternative of aria-colindex. | |
| aria-colspan | other | Defines the number of columns spanned by a cell or gridcell within a table, grid, or treegrid. | |
| aria-controls | other | Identifies the element (or elements) whose contents or presence are controlled by the current element. | |
| aria-current | other | Indicates the element that represents the current item within a container or set of related elements. | |
| aria-describedby | other | Identifies the element (or elements) that describes the object. | |
| aria-description | other | Defines a string value that describes or annotates the current element. | |
| aria-details | other | Identifies the element that provides a detailed, extended description for the object. | |
| aria-disabled | other | Indicates that the element is perceivable but disabled, so it is not editable or otherwise operable. | |
| aria-dropeffect | other | Indicates what functions can be performed when a dragged object is released on the drop target. | |
| aria-errormessage | other | Identifies the element that provides an error message for the object. | |
| aria-expanded | other | Indicates whether the element, or another grouping element it controls, is currently expanded or collapsed. | |
| aria-flowto | other | Identifies the next element (or elements) in an alternate reading order of content which, at the user's discretion, allows assistive technology to override the general default of reading in document source order. | |
| aria-grabbed | other | Indicates an element's "grabbed" state in a drag-and-drop operation. | |
| aria-haspopup | other | Indicates the availability and type of interactive popup element, such as menu or dialog, that can be triggered by an element. | |
| aria-hidden | other | Indicates whether the element is exposed to an accessibility API. | |
| aria-invalid | other | Indicates the entered value does not conform to the format expected by the application. | |
| aria-keyshortcuts | other | Indicates keyboard shortcuts that an author has implemented to activate or give focus to an element. | |
| aria-label | other | Defines a string value that labels the current element. | |
| aria-labelledby | other | Identifies the element (or elements) that labels the current element. | |
| aria-level | other | Defines the hierarchical level of an element within a structure. | |
| aria-live | other | Indicates that an element will be updated, and describes the types of updates the user agents, assistive technologies, and user can expect from the live region. | |
| aria-modal | other | Indicates whether an element is modal when displayed. | |
| aria-multiline | other | Indicates whether a text box accepts multiple lines of input or only a single line. | |
| aria-multiselectable | other | Indicates that the user may select more than one item from the current selectable descendants. | |
| aria-orientation | other | Indicates whether the element's orientation is horizontal, vertical, or unknown/ambiguous. | |
| aria-owns | other | Identifies an element (or elements) in order to define a visual, functional, or contextual parent/child relationship between DOM elements where the DOM hierarchy cannot be used to represent the relationship. | |
| aria-placeholder | other | Defines a short hint (a word or short phrase) intended to aid the user with data entry when the control has no value. A hint could be a sample value or a brief description of the expected format. | |
| aria-posinset | other | Defines an element's number or position in the current set of listitems or treeitems. Not required if all elements in the set are present in the DOM. | |
| aria-pressed | other | Indicates the current "pressed" state of toggle buttons. | |
| aria-readonly | other | Indicates that the element is not editable, but is otherwise operable. | |
| aria-relevant | other | Indicates what notifications the user agent will trigger when the accessibility tree within a live region is modified. | |
| aria-required | other | Indicates that user input is required on the element before a form may be submitted. | |
| aria-roledescription | other | Defines a human-readable, author-localized description for the role of an element. | |
| aria-rowcount | other | Defines the total number of rows in a table, grid, or treegrid. | |
| aria-rowindex | other | Defines an element's row index or position with respect to the total number of rows within a table, grid, or treegrid. | |
| aria-rowindextext | other | Defines a human readable text alternative of aria-rowindex. | |
| aria-rowspan | other | Defines the number of rows spanned by a cell or gridcell within a table, grid, or treegrid. | |
| aria-selected | other | Indicates the current "selected" state of various widgets. | |
| aria-setsize | other | Defines the number of items in the current set of listitems or treeitems. Not required if all elements in the set are present in the DOM. | |
| aria-sort | other | Indicates if items in a table or grid are sorted in ascending or descending order. | |
| aria-valuemax | other | Defines the maximum allowed value for a range widget. | |
| aria-valuemin | other | Defines the minimum allowed value for a range widget. | |
| aria-valuenow | other | Defines the current value for a range widget. | |
| aria-valuetext | other | Defines the human readable text alternative of aria-valuenow for a range widget. | |
| dangerouslySetInnerHTML | other | ||
| onCopy | other | ||
| onCopyCapture | other | ||
| onCut | other | ||
| onCutCapture | other | ||
| onPaste | other | ||
| onPasteCapture | other | ||
| onCompositionEnd | other | ||
| onCompositionEndCapture | other | ||
| onCompositionStart | other | ||
| onCompositionStartCapture | other | ||
| onCompositionUpdate | other | ||
| onCompositionUpdateCapture | other | ||
| onFocus | other | ||
| onFocusCapture | other | ||
| onBlur | other | ||
| onBlurCapture | other | ||
| onChange | other | ||
| onChangeCapture | other | ||
| onBeforeInput | other | ||
| onBeforeInputCapture | other | ||
| onInput | other | ||
| onInputCapture | other | ||
| onReset | other | ||
| onResetCapture | other | ||
| onSubmit | other | ||
| onSubmitCapture | other | ||
| onInvalid | other | ||
| onInvalidCapture | other | ||
| onLoad | other | ||
| onLoadCapture | other | ||
| onError | other | ||
| onErrorCapture | other | ||
| onKeyDown | other | ||
| onKeyDownCapture | other | ||
| onKeyPress | other | ||
| onKeyPressCapture | other | ||
| onKeyUp | other | ||
| onKeyUpCapture | other | ||
| onAbort | other | ||
| onAbortCapture | other | ||
| onCanPlay | other | ||
| onCanPlayCapture | other | ||
| onCanPlayThrough | other | ||
| onCanPlayThroughCapture | other | ||
| onDurationChange | other | ||
| onDurationChangeCapture | other | ||
| onEmptied | other | ||
| onEmptiedCapture | other | ||
| onEncrypted | other | ||
| onEncryptedCapture | other | ||
| onEnded | other | ||
| onEndedCapture | other | ||
| onLoadedData | other | ||
| onLoadedDataCapture | other | ||
| onLoadedMetadata | other | ||
| onLoadedMetadataCapture | other | ||
| onLoadStart | other | ||
| onLoadStartCapture | other | ||
| onPause | other | ||
| onPauseCapture | other | ||
| onPlay | other | ||
| onPlayCapture | other | ||
| onPlaying | other | ||
| onPlayingCapture | other | ||
| onProgress | other | ||
| onProgressCapture | other | ||
| onRateChange | other | ||
| onRateChangeCapture | other | ||
| onSeeked | other | ||
| onSeekedCapture | other | ||
| onSeeking | other | ||
| onSeekingCapture | other | ||
| onStalled | other | ||
| onStalledCapture | other | ||
| onSuspend | other | ||
| onSuspendCapture | other | ||
| onTimeUpdate | other | ||
| onTimeUpdateCapture | other | ||
| onVolumeChange | other | ||
| onVolumeChangeCapture | other | ||
| onWaiting | other | ||
| onWaitingCapture | other | ||
| onAuxClick | other | ||
| onAuxClickCapture | other | ||
| onClick | other | ||
| onClickCapture | other | ||
| onContextMenu | other | ||
| onContextMenuCapture | other | ||
| onDoubleClick | other | ||
| onDoubleClickCapture | other | ||
| onDrag | other | ||
| onDragCapture | other | ||
| onDragEnd | other | ||
| onDragEndCapture | other | ||
| onDragEnter | other | ||
| onDragEnterCapture | other | ||
| onDragExit | other | ||
| onDragExitCapture | other | ||
| onDragLeave | other | ||
| onDragLeaveCapture | other | ||
| onDragOver | other | ||
| onDragOverCapture | other | ||
| onDragStart | other | ||
| onDragStartCapture | other | ||
| onDrop | other | ||
| onDropCapture | other | ||
| onMouseDown | other | ||
| onMouseDownCapture | other | ||
| onMouseEnter | other | ||
| onMouseLeave | other | ||
| onMouseMove | other | ||
| onMouseMoveCapture | other | ||
| onMouseOut | other | ||
| onMouseOutCapture | other | ||
| onMouseOver | other | ||
| onMouseOverCapture | other | ||
| onMouseUp | other | ||
| onMouseUpCapture | other | ||
| onSelect | other | ||
| onSelectCapture | other | ||
| onTouchCancel | other | ||
| onTouchCancelCapture | other | ||
| onTouchEnd | other | ||
| onTouchEndCapture | other | ||
| onTouchMove | other | ||
| onTouchMoveCapture | other | ||
| onTouchStart | other | ||
| onTouchStartCapture | other | ||
| onPointerDown | other | ||
| onPointerDownCapture | other | ||
| onPointerMove | other | ||
| onPointerMoveCapture | other | ||
| onPointerUp | other | ||
| onPointerUpCapture | other | ||
| onPointerCancel | other | ||
| onPointerCancelCapture | other | ||
| onPointerEnter | other | ||
| onPointerLeave | other | ||
| onPointerOver | other | ||
| onPointerOverCapture | other | ||
| onPointerOut | other | ||
| onPointerOutCapture | other | ||
| onGotPointerCapture | other | ||
| onGotPointerCaptureCapture | other | ||
| onLostPointerCapture | other | ||
| onLostPointerCaptureCapture | other | ||
| onScroll | other | ||
| onScrollCapture | other | ||
| onWheel | other | ||
| onWheelCapture | other | ||
| onAnimationStart | other | ||
| onAnimationStartCapture | other | ||
| onAnimationEnd | other | ||
| onAnimationEndCapture | other | ||
| onAnimationIteration | other | ||
| onAnimationIterationCapture | other | ||
| onTransitionEnd | other | ||
| onTransitionEndCapture | other | ||
| forceExternal | other | Whether to force the link to be treated as external (useful for internal links that are NOT handled by the application) | |
| text | other | The text of the link |
When to use this component
Always include the back link component on GOV.UK question pages.
You can include a back link on other pages within a multi-page transaction, if it makes sense to do so.
When not to use this component
Never use the back link component together with breadcrumbs. If necessary, you should do research with your users to learn which they find more helpful in your service.
How it works
Always place back links at the top of a page.
Make sure the link takes users to the previous page they were on, in the state they last saw it. Where possible, ensure it works even when JavaScript is not available.
If this is not possible, you should hide the back link when JavaScript is not available.
Using the default link text (‘Back’) is ideal for services with a simple journey. For example, applying for a National Insurance number. Users will only ever go back to the previous page in the service.
For more complex user journeys, consider using different link text, like ‘Go back to [page]’. For example, in an admin system with many different areas. In this case, if you used ‘Back’, it might not be clear to users what they are going back to.
Back links on dark backgrounds
Use the govuk-back-link--inverse modifier class to show a white link on a dark background – for example, in headers, custom components, and patterns with darker backgrounds.
Make sure all users can see the back link – the background colour must have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 with white.
Custom text
A back link with customised text.
No HREF
A back link which relies on Javascript to go back as no href propery has been provided.