A toggle is a switch that has two positions—on and off. Often, toggles are used to show or hide additional content on a webpage. For example, a site might have an accordion menu or other display elements that can be expanded and collapsed to reveal different sections of content. You can use CSS to add a toggle style to your HTML to create this type of interface for users.
Toggles are a good choice for mobile interfaces because they take up less screen space than radio buttons and can be configured to show or hide a specific piece of content. They are also more intuitive to use than checkboxes because they can only be set to a pre-selected state (either ON or OFF).
However, despite their simplicity, toggles are a tricky design element. They can be confusing for users because there is no visual on/off cue – instead, they rely on other cues such as position or color. Toggle buttons should be placed near their label and should be recognizable as a button even when they’re not active. The button itself should be large enough to stand out, but not so big that it takes up too much space and confuses the user.
Toggle buttons can be a pain for users with cognitive disabilities as well. Many designers rely on the proximity principle to help users understand which side of the toggle is currently on or off—but this can lead to confusion for people with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and other reading difficulties. In addition, colors can be a significant source of frustration for people with red/green color blindness. The use of contrasting colors can make it difficult for these users to differentiate the toggle’s states, and can even result in them mistaking the ON/OFF position for the OFF/ON position.
The best way to avoid these cognitive issues is to use a simple toggle that only has one state. But if that isn’t possible then it’s important to make the state clearly visible. This can be done by positioning the toggle near its label or by using a bright icon that stands out against the background. It’s also important to limit the number of words in the toggle label to avoid confusion.
Lastly, it’s helpful to name each toggle as it’s created so that someone who isn’t familiar with the codebase can quickly understand what it does and why it should be on or off. This practice is similar to the idea of naming variables in software, and it’s important because it helps teams stay on track during feature development.
Feature flags provide an alternative to the traditional waterfall development model by allowing teams to release new features into production without waiting for a complete testing and review process. They can be implemented in a variety of ways, from simple commenting all the way to complex patterns that require re-deploying an artifact into a testing environment. In this article we’ll look at some of these options and recommend approaches that can be adapted for the specific needs of each situation.
