Tabs
The tabs component lets users navigate between related sections of content, displaying one section at a time.
Contents
Past day
| Case manager | Cases opened | Cases closed |
|---|---|---|
| David Francis | 3 | 0 |
| Paul Farmer | 1 | 0 |
| Rita Patel | 2 | 0 |
Past week
| Case manager | Cases opened | Cases closed |
|---|---|---|
| David Francis | 24 | 18 |
| Paul Farmer | 16 | 20 |
| Rita Patel | 24 | 27 |
Past month
| Case manager | Cases opened | Cases closed |
|---|---|---|
| David Francis | 98 | 95 |
| Paul Farmer | 122 | 131 |
| Rita Patel | 126 | 142 |
Past year
| Case manager | Cases opened | Cases closed |
|---|---|---|
| David Francis | 1380 | 1472 |
| Paul Farmer | 1129 | 1083 |
| Rita Patel | 1539 | 1265 |
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 | |
| 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 | ||
| 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 | ||
| items | other |
When to use this component
Tabs can be a helpful way of letting users quickly switch between related information if:
- your content can be usefully separated into clearly labelled sections
- the first section is more relevant than the others for most users
- users will not need to view all the sections at once
Tabs can work well for people who use a service regularly, for example, users of a caseworking system. Their need to perform tasks quickly may be greater than their need for simplicity of first-time use.
When not to use this component
Do not use the tabs component if the total amount of content the tabs contain will make the page slow to load. For this reason, do not use the tabs component as a form of page navigation.
Tabs hide content from users and not everyone will notice them or understand how they work.
Do not use tabs if your users might need to:
- read through all of the content in order, for example, to understand a step-by-step process
- compare information in different tabs - having to memorise the information and switch backwards and forwards can be frustrating and difficult
Test your content without tabs first. Consider if it’s better to:
- simplify and reduce the amount of content
- split the content across multiple pages
- keep the content on a single page, separated by headings
- use a table of contents to let users navigate quickly to specific sections of content
Tabs, accordion and details
Tabs, [accordions], and [details] all hide sections of content which a user can choose to reveal.
Consider using tabs instead of an accordion if users do not need to view more than one section at a time.
You should also take into account the number of sections of content. Tabs are arranged horizontally, so cannot fit as many sections as accordions, which display vertically.
Tabs may work better for users who need to switch quickly between 2 sections.
Accordions push other sections down the page when they open, but tabs do not move which makes it easier to switch.
Consider using tabs instead of the details component if there are multiple related sections of content. The details component might be better if you only have 1 or 2 sections of content. The details component is less visually prominent than tabs, so tends to work better for content which is not as important to users.
How it works
Contents
Past day
| Case manager | Cases opened | Cases closed |
|---|---|---|
| David Francis | 3 | 0 |
| Paul Farmer | 1 | 0 |
| Rita Patel | 2 | 0 |
Past week
| Case manager | Cases opened | Cases closed |
|---|---|---|
| David Francis | 24 | 18 |
| Paul Farmer | 16 | 20 |
| Rita Patel | 24 | 27 |
Past month
| Case manager | Cases opened | Cases closed |
|---|---|---|
| David Francis | 98 | 95 |
| Paul Farmer | 122 | 131 |
| Rita Patel | 126 | 142 |
Past year
| Case manager | Cases opened | Cases closed |
|---|---|---|
| David Francis | 1380 | 1472 |
| Paul Farmer | 1129 | 1083 |
| Rita Patel | 1539 | 1265 |
The tabs component uses JavaScript. When JavaScript is not available, users will see the tabbed content on a single page, in order from first to last, with a table of contents that links to each of the sections.
This is also how the component currently behaves on small screens, though more research is needed on this.
Use clear labels
Tabs hide content, so the tab labels need to make it very clear what they link to, otherwise users will not know if they need to click on them.
If you struggle to come up with clear labels, it might be because the way you’ve separated the content is not clear.
Order the tabs according to user needs
The first tab should be the most commonly-needed section. Arrange the other tabs in the order that makes most sense for your users.
Do not disable tabs
Disabling elements is normally confusing for users. If there is no content for a tab, either remove the tab or, if that would be confusing for your users, explain why there is no content when the tab is selected.
Avoid tabs that wrap over more than one line
If you use too many tabs or they have long labels then they may wrap over more than one line. This makes it harder for users to see the connection between the selected tab and its content.
Research and testing
This component is experimental because it has not yet been tried in research with users.
The design, code and guidance here are based on recommendations from Inclusive Components and the Nielsen Norman Group as well as user research findings and examples of tabs in the following services:
- Manage bereavement support payment (DWP)
- Support for check your state pension (DWP)
- Access to work integrated system (DWP)
- Bank holidays (GDS)
- Universal Credit (DWP)
- Criminal Justice Services (CPP)
- Judiciary UI internal systems (HMCTS)
- Rural Payments (Defra)
Next steps
User research is needed to confirm:
- which types of services tabs work best in
- that this approach to tabs is the best option for screen reader users and sighted keyboard users
- how this component should behave on small screen sizes