A toggle is a switch that allows the user to choose between two opposing states, such as ON and OFF. It’s a common interface element in software and hardware, as well as for changing settings and preferences. Toggles are especially useful on mobile devices, where space is limited and where users typically have shorter attention spans.
When using toggles, it’s important to ensure that they are clearly labeled, use standard visual design, and deliver immediate results. In addition, designers should consider how the toggles are positioned and their visual appearance in order to avoid confusing them with other types of control such as checkboxes or radio buttons.
Toggles should be labelled with clear, concise text that describes what the switch will do when it is in the active state. In addition, it’s best to use a high-contrast color for the switch’s visual cue and evaluate societal and cultural implications when choosing this color. For example, red can be a jarring choice for some audiences as it is often associated with stop signs or stop lights.
The word toggle originated in the 18th century as a pin passed through an eye or loop in a rope to hold it in place, and this definition still applies today. Toggle has also come to mean a button that turns something on and off, like the Caps Lock or Num Lock key on a keyboard. The toggle switch is a familiar and intuitive concept, which explains why it’s so popular in software.
In a digital world, the toggle is a useful tool for allowing teams to make changes to production code without disrupting existing functionality or causing bugs. This allows the team to implement new features before they’re ready for release and testing, which would be difficult or impossible to do with more traditional waterfall development models.
It’s recommended that toggles are positioned in the top-left corner of the screen and have a large enough visual distinction to be easily recognizable. In addition, the toggle should not be inverted because this has been proven to confuse users and increase error rates. In a previous study, we tested four toggles with varying font size differences between the active and inactive button states. The toggle with the smallest font difference performed best, but embossment alone is not reliable for communicating the active state, and it should be used in combination with another primary cue such as bold or a color fill.
Using Toggles in your articles is easy and doesn’t require copying and pasting any HTML. Simply add the Toggle extension in the article editor, and the standard ordered (
