Toggle is a term used to describe a switch that has two positions, either on or off. These switches can be found in software and hardware, like the caps lock or num lock keys on a keyboard. They are also commonly seen in options menus on software applications.
The word toggle was originally a noun, referring to a pin passed through the eye of a rope to hold it in place. Later it came to mean a fastener or any kind of switch. It has since become a verb, as in “toggle between screens during video chats with two friends at once.”
In general computing, toggle buttons are used when a user can update a setting that has only one of two outcomes, for example changing from stream to map view. They are sometimes confused with checkboxes, but a toggle button is more appropriate when the change has an immediate effect, without the need to hit Save or Submit.
When using toggles, it is important to understand how users perceive the visual cues that indicate whether a toggle is active or not. This is especially critical for applications where the user may be interacting with the toggle over long periods of time. In these situations, the use of color to indicate state is particularly important because it can take longer for the user to recognize that a toggle has been changed from one state to another. The choice of color can have a significant impact on the user’s ability to distinguish between states, and designers should consider the societal and cultural implications when choosing colors for toggle switches.
Labels are another critical part of a toggle’s usability. The label should clearly communicate what will happen if the toggle is switched on, and it should be positioned adjacent to the toggle in a way that allows the user to interact with it intuitively. This will help the user to make an informed decision about the action they want to take and will reduce the likelihood of error when selecting a new toggle state.
In addition to this, the font size of the toggle’s label should be large enough to be readable in most cases. Small text sizes are difficult to read in most conditions, and the use of toggles with tiny font sizes can confuse users who are attempting to interact with them. Our research shows that the toggle with the smallest font size difference performed the best in our experiments, which is not surprising, given that this is closer to the average performance of real-world users.
