A toggle is a switch that has two positions: on or off. It’s also a verb meaning “switch back and forth.” For example, you might toggle between screens as you video chat with multiple friends at once. The word is especially common in computer technology, where any option item that can be turned on or off is called a toggle.
Toggles are great when you need to change a specific aspect of a page or application. They allow you to deliver a quick, obvious result. But remember to avoid overusing them, and make sure that the toggle’s current state is clear to the user. Otherwise, they can create confusion and ambiguity.
The word toggle dates back to the 18th century, where it was used for a pin that passed through the eye of a rope or stay to secure it. Toggles are still used in some mechanical applications today, such as the cap or nut lock on keyboards, or for electrical switches that control a light’s on/off function.
As we use toggles in digital products, it’s important to consider the cognitive issues associated with them. The main issue is that toggles often rely on color to convey their state, which can be confusing for users. WCAG 1.4.1 recommends that you don’t rely on only color to communicate meaningful information. However, it’s important to weigh this against cultural and societal differences that may influence how colors are perceived. For example, using red for the on position could be counterintuitive to users in some cultures. In these cases, using a contrasting color can help to signal the toggle’s current state clearly.
In addition, toggles can be difficult for users to interpret in terms of which side is active and which is passive. This can be addressed by making sure that the toggle’s labels are descriptive and clear. For example, the top toggle with a label that says ‘on’ might not be clear to some users if it is the only label on the right-most side of the control. Similarly, the bottom toggle with a label that says ‘cookies’ might not be clear to some users unless they have read the description in context.
Toggle configuration can be managed in several ways, ranging from the simple commenting approach that uses the preprocessor’s #ifdef feature to more sophisticated approaches which store a toggle’s configuration within an existing application DB or centralized registry. The latter are usually accompanied by some form of admin UI which allows product managers, testers and system operators to view and modify toggle configuration.
