Buttons

Buttons are clickable elements that are used to trigger actions. They communicate calls to action to the user and allow users to interact with pages in a variety of ways. Button labels express what action will occur when the user interacts with it.

Use buttons to communicate actions users can take and to allow users to interact with the page. Each page should have one primary button, and any remaining calls to action should be represented as lower emphasis buttons.

Do not use buttons as navigational elements. Instead, use links when the desired action is to take the user to a new page.

Each button variant has a particular function and its design signals that function to the user. It is therefore very important that the different variants are implemented consistently across products, so that they message the correct actions.

A button’s text label is the most important element on a button, as it communicates the action that will be performed when the user interacts with it. In a contained button the text is always left-aligned, not centered. By default Carbon uses sentence case for all button labels.

If a text label is not used, an icon should be present to signify what the button does.

Buttons are named according to their size and usage in the Carbon Sketch kit and in the code. The table below adds more context around the use case for each size. For guidance on button heights as well as type sizes and tokens, see Sizes on the Style tab.

You don’t necessarily need to use the buttons in the order that their labels imply. For example, you don’t always need to use the secondary button as the second button in your layout. The most important thing is to establish a visual hierarchy between the buttons in your UI. Keep these best practices in mind.

As a general rule, a layout should contain a single high-emphasis button that makes it clear that other buttons have less importance in the hierarchy. This high-emphasis button commands the most attention.

A high-emphasis button can be accompanied by medium- and low-emphasis buttons that perform less important actions. Keep in mind that you should only group together calls to action that have a relationship to one another.

Although secondary buttons have less visual prominence because they are less saturated than their primary counterparts, they are still tonally heavy. If your layout requires multiple actions—as is the case with some toolbars, data lists and dashboards—low emphasis buttons (tertiary or ghost) may be a better choice.

Alignment refers to whether the buttons are aligned to the right or the left of a window, container, or layout. Buttons are unique, more so than any other component, in that their alignment depends on where they appear and whether or not they’re contained within another component.

As a general rule, on full-page designs, the primary button is on the left side of the page. When the browser window is large and the user is scrolling to read, it’s best to have the primary button where the user’s attention has been focused all along. Whereas in wizards, where a user is progressing through a series of steps or dialog windows, the primary action traditionally sits at the bottom right. Buttons within components such as notifications, search fields, and data tables are also right-aligned.

In some cases a button group—or even a single button in the case of a side panel or small tile—may span the entire width of a window or container. Typical nested button locations include:

Button alignment is also closely related to whether the button is treated as a fixed or a fluid element within a layout. When we say “fluid”, we mean that the button becomes a part of a larger, compound component by bleeding to two or more edges of its container. Rather than defining the a fluid button’s width in columns or mini units, its width is defined as a percentage (often 50%) of the container’s width. Also, as a general rule, fluid buttons are never left-aligned in a layout or a container—they’re always either right-aligned, or span the full width of the container.

Fluid components like button never exist in isolation. As you can see in the examples above, they are always part of another component, like modal or form. Other fluid components include tiles and most recently, text inputs.

Many product designers have approached us looking for more guidance around borders between all fluid buttons. In a recent update, we added a 1px border between all fluid buttons that call the $ui-03 token for subtle borders. This feature adds a 3:1 distinction between the two interactive UI elements. The border is a recommended feature to improve accessibility in data visualizations, and the same logic should apply here.

By default the container’s width is set to the size of the text label with 64px fixed padding on the right side and 16px fixed padding on the left. However, when possible set the button container’s relative position to the responsive layout grid and match button width to the other elements on the page. Ideally, when using groups of related buttons (not including ghost buttons), they should all be the same width. See button groups below for more detailed information.

Button groups are a useful way of aligning buttons that have a relationship. Group the buttons logically into sets based on usage and importance. Too many calls to action will overwhelm and confuse users so they should be avoided.

As mentioned in the Emphasis section, you don’t necessarily need to use the buttons in the order that their labels imply. Either a secondary or a tertiary button can be used in conjunction with a primary button. In fact, due to the visual weight of the secondary button, it’s recommended to use tertiary or ghost buttons in layouts with more than three calls to action.

Ideally, when using groups of related buttons (not including ghost buttons), they should all be the same width. This can be achieved in one of two ways, both of which are acceptable. The first approach involves using the narrow grid mode. In this situation each button would be set individually on the column grid. Note: Carbon developers are working on the narrow grid mode, currently left-hanging buttons can only be achieved with an override.

Some products don’t want to hang their buttons into the gutter, but still want a 16px distance between buttons. This can be achieved while maintaining same-width buttons by treating the button group as a single object (rather than two separate entities) on the grid. Each button will essentially span 50% of their container with a programmatic 16px gutter between them.

When using multiple buttons, the position of the primary button adheres to the alignment guidance above. To sum up, a primary button will be left-aligned and positioned to the left of the secondary/tertiary button on full-page designs. The primary button will be right-aligned and appear to the right of the secondary/tertiary button within wizards and dialog windows.

Typical landing pages for product have buttons side by side. However vertical button groups are also common in products, to save real estate in narrow columns and occasionally side panels. In these instances, the primary button is always on top and the secondary or tertiary button is below.

Generally, when designers stack buttons, they tend to use the fixed buttons. However, stacked fluid buttons are also an option in desktop side panels with especially long calls to action. Note: experimenting with stacked fluid buttons would require an override to the existing code.

Danger buttons have a different visual style to inform users of potentially destructive actions they are about to take. Within a set, use the primary danger button style.

A button’s text label is the most important element on a button, as it communicates the action that will be performed when the user interacts with it. Buttons need to be clear and predictable.

Button labels should clearly indicate the action of the button. To provide enough context, use the {verb} + {noun} content formula on buttons except in the case of common actions like “Done”, “Close”, “Cancel”, “Add”, or “Delete”.

There are exceptions to this rule for situations in which button length could cause problems in compact UIs or negatively impact translation, but the {verb} + {noun} formula is still best practice.

For consistency, see Carbon’s content guidelines for a list of recommended action labels.

Users can trigger a button by clicking anywhere within the button container.

Users can trigger a button by pressing Enter or Space while the button has focus. For additional keyboard interactions, see the accessibility tab.

VoiceOver: Users can trigger a button by pressing Enter or Space while the button has focus.

JAWS: Users can trigger a button by pressing Enter or Space while the button has focus.

NVDA: Users can trigger a button by pressing Enter or Space while the button has focus.

Icons can be placed next to labels to both clarify an action and call attention to a button. There are certain instances where an icon will suffice in place of a text label, but use icon buttons cautiously.

Icon buttons allow users to take actions, and make choices, with a single tap. Icon buttons can take the form of a primary, secondary, tertiary, or ghost variant but most commonly will be styled as primary or ghost buttons.

The danger button has three different styles: primary, tertiary, and ghost. Determining which danger button style to use will depend on the level of emphasis you want to give to the danger action. Destructive actions that are considered a required or primary step in a workflow should use the primary danger button style. However, if a destructive action is just one of several actions a user could choose from, then a lower emphasis style like the tertiary danger button or the ghost danger button may be more appropriate.

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