ONGOING

Description

Tabs enable content organization at a high level, such as switching between views, data sets, or functional aspects. Allowing user for dual-screen support, and workspace customization.

Types

Type	Usage	Image
Main tabs	Use it as tabbed navigation - Single row above their associated content
2nd level tabs	Single row above their associated content
Details pane tabs	Single row above their associated content in the details pane
Ribbon tabs
Side tabs <TBD>

Usage & Behavior

Tabs organize and allow navigation between groups of content that are related and at the same level of the hierarchy.

General guidelines

Structure

The horizontal layout of the tab bar never changes. The tabs always appear side by side

Structure Elements

Container
- Display a navigation text element arranged together with the active inactive highlighted
Tab item
- Describes its content and sets user expectations
- Each tab label describes the content contained within it
- one to two words maximum
- Icons are not permitted as tab labels
Active tab
- To differentiate an active tab from an inactive tab, apply a 3 px underline and color change to the active tab’s highlighted.

Default

By default, show the first tab as open. This is the initial setting provided by the control.
Note: Technically, you can also override the initial selection. However, this is not recommended.

Later on, you can show the tab last selected by the user.

States

State	Image	Comment
Regular
Hover
Active
Selected
Other focused
Other focused hover
Other focused active
Selected focused

Interaction

You can click on the entire label
Tabs can be switched by clicking on a different tab
There's always one tab open
Only 1 content can be viewed at a time when clicking on another tab the display will change for the selected tab
Hovering over a tab will show a tooltip with the full ?????????????? name of the section header

Validations and errors

State	Image	Comment
Tab item error
Tab item warning

Best practices

Keep in mind that at mobile widths and during translation, the character length of a label will impact the experience. Do not use icons in the tab label
A maximum of four tabs may be displayed. This is to maintain an uncluttered UI and reduce cognitive load for users.
Use clear labels
Tab order should be consistent across an experience. Tabs with related content should be grouped adjacent to each other.

Accessibility compliance

Each component should be A11y complied, please follow the 3 guidelines linked below. At the very least we should document that each component is in compliance with each of the 3

Focus management

We already set a general guidelines described in Keyboard & Focus Management Guidelines

Screen reader support

Make sure the components support screen reader for content or behavior where needed - see Screen Reader Guidelines

Contrast & size compliance

Design

Zeplin link	Screen thumbnail
Main Tabs https://zpl.io/bPkL1ma
2nd Level Tabs https://zpl.io/2ZqjW0X
Details Pane Tabs https://zpl.io/VODWzzr
Ribbon Tabs - Expand https://zpl.io/bJvqAmE