Toggle Buttons / Switch

Screenshot of audio control toggle buttons — Figure 1 Example of Play/Pause and Mute/Unmute toggle button

A toggle button is a component that has two possible states – on and off. The state is defined using aria-pressed attribute.

NOTE:

New to accessibility or uncertain of requirements, it will be helpful to review all sections below.
Already familiar with requirements, skip to the “Working Example” section for sample HTML, CSS and JavaScript (when needed), along with a working demo.

The toggle button SHOULD be defined using <button> element.
To indicate the state, aria-pressed attribute SHOULD be defined for the <button>element.
- The value of aria-pressed MUST be set to true in on state and false in off state.
Alternatively, native HTML checkbox <input type="checkbox"> CAN be used to implement a toggle control.
- CSS can be used to keep the visual presentation as a toggle button and hide the checkbox control from users visually.
Another alternative way to implement a toggle button is by providing role="switch" on the <button> element.
- To indicate the state programmatically, aria-checked SHOULD be provided for the <button> element.
- The value of aria-checked SHOULD be set to true in ON state and false in OFF state.
A descriptive and programmatic label MUST be provided for the toggle button. See “Label placement and structure” component for more information on labelling.

For example,

<!-- Toggle button unpressed state -->
<button type="button" id="toggle" aria-label="Mute" aria-pressed="false">...</button>

<!-- Toggle button in pressed state -->
<button type="button" id="toggle" aria-label="Mute" aria-pressed="true">...</button>

<!-- Toggle button with role="switch" in unchecked state -->
<span id="auto_sign">Auto Sign-in </span>
<button type="button" id="toggle2" role="switch" aria-labelledby="auto_sign" aria-checked="false">
    <span>on</span><span>off</span>
</button>

<!-- Toggle button with role="switch" in checked state -->
<span id="auto_sign">Auto Sign-in </span>
<button type="button" id="toggle2" role="switch" aria-labelledby="auto_sign" aria-checked="true">
    <span>on</span><span>off</span>
</button>

<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/6.4.0/css/all.min.css"/>

<h4>Using <button> element with aria-pressed attribute</h4>
<button id="playButton" aria-pressed="false" aria-label="Play">
    <i class="fas fa-volume-up" aria-hidden="true"></i>
</button>

<button id="muteButton"  aria-pressed="false" aria-label="Mute">
    <i class="fas fa-play" aria-hidden="true"></i>
</button>

<h4>Using <button> element with role="switch" and aria-checked attribute</h4>
<div>
    <span id="auto_sign">Auto Sign-in </span>
    <button type="button" id="toggle2" role="switch" aria-labelledby="auto_sign" aria-checked="false">
        <span>on</span><span>off</span>
    </button>
</div>
<div>
    <span id="payment_methods">Save and fill payment methods </span>
    <button type="button" id="toggle1" role="switch" aria-labelledby="payment_methods" aria-checked="false">
        <span>on</span><span>off</span>
    </button>
</div>

button {
    border: none;
    background-color: transparent;
    cursor: pointer;
}

button i {
    font-size: 24px;
}

#muteButton[aria-pressed="true"] i::before {
    content: "\f6a9"; /* FontAwesome icon for pressed state */
}

#muteButton[aria-pressed="false"] i::before {
    content: "\1F508"; /* FontAwesome icon for unpressed  state */
}

#playButton[aria-pressed="true"] i:before {
    content: "\f144"; /* Play icon */
}

#playButton[aria-pressed="false"] i::before {
    content: "\f04c"; /* FontAwesome icon for unpressed state */
}

:root {
    --brightest: #fff;
    --bright: #757580;
    --positive: #003057;
}

[role="switch"] {
    padding: 0;
    width: 2.6rem;
    height: 1.5rem;
    border: 0;
    border-radius: 1rem;
    background-color: var(--bright);
}

[role="switch"][aria-checked="true"] {
    background-color: var(--positive);
}

[role="switch"] span {
    color: var(--brightest);
    padding: 0.1rem;
    pointer-events: none;
    border-radius: 2rem;
}

[role="switch"][aria-checked="false"] :last-child {
    padding-left: .2em;
}

[role="switch"][aria-checked="true"] :last-child,
[role="switch"][aria-checked="false"] :first-child {
    background: var(--brightest);
}

label {
    font-size: 18px;
}

div {
    display: block;
    margin: 1rem;
}

[role ="switch"]:focus {
    outline: .18em solid #000;
    outline-offset: 1px;
}

const muteButton = document.getElementById("muteButton");
const playButton = document.getElementById("playButton");
let isMuted = false;
let isPlaying = false;

muteButton.addEventListener("click", () => {
    isMuted = !isMuted;
    muteButton.setAttribute("aria-pressed", isMuted);
});

playButton.addEventListener("click", () => {
    isPlaying = !isPlaying;
    playButton.setAttribute("aria-pressed", isPlaying);
});

const togglebtn2 = document.querySelector('button#toggle2');
togglebtn2.addEventListener('click', (e) => {
    let el = e.target;
    let state = el.getAttribute('aria-checked');
    let isState = (state === 'true');
    el.setAttribute('aria-checked', isState ? false : true)
});

const togglebtn1 = document.querySelector('button#toggle1');
togglebtn1.addEventListener('click', (e) => {
    let el = e.target;
    let state = el.getAttribute('aria-checked');
    let isState = (state === 'true');
    el.setAttribute('aria-checked', isState ? false : true)
});

Using <button> element with aria-pressed attribute

Using <button> element with role="switch" and aria-checked attribute

Auto Sign-in

Save and fill payment methods

Toggle Buttons / Switch

Color Requirements

Implementation

Why is it important

Working Example