Mastering Accordions and Tabs in Govstack

Accordions are great way to include a lot of content on your page in a way that isn't overwhelming. They display text in lines that open up after a visitor clicks or taps them. You can place any content inside an accordion foldout that you would put directly on a content page. Please note: you will not be able to add components inside an accordion.

Try anchored accordions

If you would like to set up a link from another page on your website to an accordion, you'll need to use the Anchored Accordion component. We recommend always using the Anchored Accordion component if you are adding an accordion to your page. Only use the Accordion/Tabs component if you want to insert tabs.

Accordion/tab example

Here's an example of using different layouts in the Accordion/Tab component for payment options.

Accordion foldout showing different payment options for property taxes

Accordion tabs showing different payment options for property taxes

Add an accordion

To add an accordion to a page:

Navigate to the page you'd like to add an accordion to
Select the 'Add content' button under the 'Main content' area of the page 'Content' tab
This will open the 'Add content' slide-out panel
From here, select the 'Accordion/Tab' component
Under the 'Content' section, select 'Add Accordion/Tab Item'
Add the accordion item heading and text that will appear when a user opens that accordion item
Click "Create"
Repeat these steps for each accordion item you want to add
Once you have added all your accordion items, click "Create"

Accordion settings

You can adjust the look and layout of your accordion through the settings tab. To access the accordion settings, select the 'Settings' tab located at the top of the 'Accordion/Tab' slide-out panel.

Review each of the Accordion/Tab settings to learn more.

Design and layout

Layout

In your component settings, you can choose between a tabbed layout or an accordion layout in the 'Layout' section.

Accordion layout

The accordion layout lists your accordion headings vertically on your web page.

After selecting this layout, you need to choose your 'Open options'. This determines whether accordion foldouts will be automatically open or closed when a user comes to the web page. You can also choose to have just the first or last item in the accordion list open by default.

Tabbed layout

The tabbed layout lists your accordion headings horizontally on your web page.

Accordion/Tab style

You can adjust the look of your accordion foldout with the "Accordion/Tab style" section in the component settings. You can choose between the basic, button, underline and line through styles.

Basic

The basic accordion style has each accordion heading and its associated foldout content contained in an outlined box with sharp corners.

Button

The button accordion style has each accordion heading in its own outlined box with rounded corners, with its associated foldout content appearing below without a box outline.

Underline

The underline accordion style underlines an accordion heading when you open the foldout content below it.

Line through

The line through accordion style strikes through an accordion heading when you open the foldout content below it.

Column widths

These settings will be available only if the component is contained within a split component.

Using the 'Column Width' sliders you can set the width of the component in split components. The slider allows for column widths from 1 to 12. A minimum width of 2 is recommended.

The total width settings for 'Split Section 1' and 'Split Section 2' should equal 12. If the sum of 'Split Section 1' and 'Split Section 2' is greater than 12, your split content will appear on two rows.

Separate options are available for desktop and tablet size screens. On mobile screens split components switch to a single column.

Component

Content colours

You can customize the content colours of the accordion using the colours that are part of your website design. Depending on your website design, you can add a coloured background behind the accordion to create a hot spot on the page.

Colour options

The colour options are based on the design of your website. You may be able to change the design colours depending on your Govstack plan. To get access to the website design features, speak with your GHD Digital Account Executive.

Background image

If you'd like, you can add an image to the background of your component. To do this, you need to:

Select the "+" icon next to the "Background image" field
This will open the 'Media' folder
From here, choose the folder that contains the image you'd like to add
Select the image you'd like to insert
Press the "Select" button

Please note

Background images ignore the focal point and cropping information added to your image in the media tab. Instead they use the settings provided under "Background image options".

Adding an image behind text can cause colour contrast issues for users with low vision or colour blindness. You should only add an image behind text if it meets the colour contrast ratio requirements associated with accessibility legislation in your region.

Background images do not use alternative text and are not called out for those using screen readers. Make sure that background images do not contain information critical to understanding the meaning or context of your content.

Background image options

You can also set a few options for a background image, including the placement of the image, size of the image and whether or not the image repeats.

Image Size

These settings replace the cropping and sizing settings added in the media section image editor.

Cover - The image will stretch to fill the available space. This is the most popular option for a single image background.

Full-Width - The image stretches to fill the full width of the available space. Depending on the characteristics of the image this may result in gaps at the top and bottom of the component.

Auto - The image displays at it's actual size. This may leave gaps around the edges of your component.

Repeat - The background image with tile vertically and horizontally. Use a smaller image or a tiling image for best results.

Repeat Horizontal - As repeat but the background image tiles in a single row.

Repeat Vertical - As repeat but the background image tiles in a single column.

Image Placement

This setting replaces the focal point setting added in the media section image editor.

Select the origin point of your background image. The image will fill the space behind your component starting from the selected point. You may need to experiment to find the best contrast and focal point position for each image.

Component width

This setting only applies if you are using a page with a 'Full' page layout. Typically, full page layouts are reserved for the home page of your website or any landing pages you've created.

Animation

Animate

You can add animation to the component by selecting the 'Animate' toggle. Once the 'Animate' toggle is selected, you'll have the option to customize the:

Animation style
Animation delay (seconds)
Animation duration (seconds)

Animation style

From the 'Animation style' dropdown menu, select the type of animation you'd like to add to the accordion. There are a variety of different animation options in the following categories:

Attention Seekers
Bouncing Entrances
Fading Entrances
Flippers
Light Speed
Rotating Entrances
Sliding Entrances
Zoom Entrances
Specials

We recommend testing out a variety of animation styles to select the one you like the most.

Please note

Animation styles can cause accessibility issues for some users visiting your website. For example, some users may experience motion sickness when viewing animated elements on your website.

Animation delay

Using the 'Animation delay' slider select the time in seconds that you'd like to delay the animation.

Please note

Animation delay can cause accessibility issues for some users visiting your website. Certain animation styles and delays can combine to make your animated component invisible to screen readers. Please test your animations to make sure they are accessible.

Animation duration

You can select how long you'd like the animation to last on the component by using the 'Animation duration' slider. Select the number of seconds you'd like the animation to continue on the public website.

Advanced

Name

In the 'Name' field you can give a unique name to the component. This will make it easier to differentiate between components, both on your page as well as in your clipboard.

Anchor name

You can create an anchor link that will link a user directly to the top of this component.

When linking to this page add the anchor to the "Anchor / querystring" field in the "Select link" dialogue box. The link will then jump to the top of the target component rather than to the top of the page.

Note that anchor names are case sensitive. For best results use lowercase characters, numbers, and dashes only. Avoid spaces and special characters.

Custom classes

In the 'Custom classes' field, you can add any custom CSS classes you may have. Custom CSS classes can be found in the Design node under the 'CSS' tab in the backend of Govstack.

If you'd like to add more than one custom class, you'll need to leave a space between each class.

Please note

Depending on your Govstack plan, you may not be able to access the Design node in the backend. If you'd like to be able to add custom CSS and get access to the website design, contact your GHD Digital Account Executive.

We cannot guarantee that future updates to Govstack will not break or negatively impact custom CSS.

Additional styles

You can select additional styles to the component, including:

Spacing
Visibility
Design

Spacing

You can remove the spacing around the component by selecting one of the following options:

Remove spacing
Remove spacing top only
Remove spacing bottom only

Visibility

You can customize the visibility of the component. Select one of the following options:

Hide on all screens
Hide on extra small screens
Hide on small screens
Hide on medium screens
Hide on large screens
Hide on extra large screens

Design

Select one of the following options if you'd like to customize the design of the component:

Show shadows - this will add a shadow effect to the component. Note that by default most Govstack websites do not have shadows. You can add these in the Design node
Sticky - the component will stay on the screen even as users scroll down the page

Hide from website

Turn on the 'Hide from website' toggle if you'd like to hide this component from the web page.

Pro Tip: when to use an accordion

Accordions work well if you're presenting a few options to the visitor of your page (e.g., different payment methods) and they have to make a decision. If you've set up your page using the inverted pyramid, you can place important details and next steps inside accordion foldouts, but make sure to avoid hiding any “need to know” information.

Accordion can also help if your word count is getting high as it allows you to provide a lot of detail on the page without causing users to scroll too far.

Preview and publish changes

Once you've added an accordion to your page, make sure to preview and publish the page to complete the process.

Alternative to nested accordions

Nested accordions, also called accordions within accordions, are not possible to create in Govstack. Nested accordions can also lead to accessibility concerns with your website.

An alternative to these nested accordions would be to convert the main accordion to a heading and then have the nested accordions reverted to main accordions below.