Content presentation - Tabs

The tabs component lets users navigate between related sections of content, displaying 1 section at a time.

Copy code

<div class="nhsuk-tabs" data-module="nhsuk-tabs">
  <h2 class="nhsuk-tabs__title">
    Contents
  </h2>

  <ul class="nhsuk-tabs__list">

    <li class="nhsuk-tabs__list-item nhsuk-tabs__list-item--selected">
      <a class="nhsuk-tabs__tab" href="#past-day">
        Past day
      </a>
    </li>

    <li class="nhsuk-tabs__list-item">
      <a class="nhsuk-tabs__tab" href="#past-week">
        Past week
      </a>
    </li>

    <li class="nhsuk-tabs__list-item">
      <a class="nhsuk-tabs__tab" href="#past-month">
        Past month
      </a>
    </li>

    <li class="nhsuk-tabs__list-item">
      <a class="nhsuk-tabs__tab" href="#past-year">
        Past year
      </a>
    </li>

  </ul>

  <div class="nhsuk-tabs__panel" id="past-day">

    <table class="nhsuk-table">
      <caption class="nhsuk-table__caption">Past day</caption>
      <thead role="rowgroup" class="nhsuk-table__head">
        <tr role="row">
          <th role="columnheader" class="" scope="col">
            Case manager
          </th>
          <th role="columnheader" class=" nhsuk-table__header--numeric" scope="col">
            Cases opened
          </th>
          <th role="columnheader" class=" nhsuk-table__header--numeric" scope="col">
            Cases closed
          </th>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody class="nhsuk-table__body">
        <tr role="row" class="nhsuk-table__row">
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell">David Francis</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">3</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">0</td>
        </tr>
        <tr role="row" class="nhsuk-table__row">
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell">Paul Farmer</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">1</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">0</td>
        </tr>
        <tr role="row" class="nhsuk-table__row">
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell">Rita Patel</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">2</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">0</td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>

  </div>

  <div class="nhsuk-tabs__panel nhsuk-tabs__panel--hidden" id="past-week">

    <table class="nhsuk-table">
      <caption class="nhsuk-table__caption">Past week</caption>
      <thead role="rowgroup" class="nhsuk-table__head">
        <tr role="row">
          <th role="columnheader" class="" scope="col">
            Case manager
          </th>
          <th role="columnheader" class=" nhsuk-table__header--numeric" scope="col">
            Cases opened
          </th>
          <th role="columnheader" class=" nhsuk-table__header--numeric" scope="col">
            Cases closed
          </th>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody class="nhsuk-table__body">
        <tr role="row" class="nhsuk-table__row">
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell">David Francis</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">24</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">18</td>
        </tr>
        <tr role="row" class="nhsuk-table__row">
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell">Paul Farmer</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">16</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">20</td>
        </tr>
        <tr role="row" class="nhsuk-table__row">
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell">Rita Patel</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">24</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">27</td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>

  </div>

  <div class="nhsuk-tabs__panel nhsuk-tabs__panel--hidden" id="past-month">

    <table class="nhsuk-table">
      <caption class="nhsuk-table__caption">Past month</caption>
      <thead role="rowgroup" class="nhsuk-table__head">
        <tr role="row">
          <th role="columnheader" class="" scope="col">
            Case manager
          </th>
          <th role="columnheader" class=" nhsuk-table__header--numeric" scope="col">
            Cases opened
          </th>
          <th role="columnheader" class=" nhsuk-table__header--numeric" scope="col">
            Cases closed
          </th>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody class="nhsuk-table__body">
        <tr role="row" class="nhsuk-table__row">
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell">David Francis</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">98</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">95</td>
        </tr>
        <tr role="row" class="nhsuk-table__row">
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell">Paul Farmer</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">122</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">131</td>
        </tr>
        <tr role="row" class="nhsuk-table__row">
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell">Rita Patel</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">126</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">142</td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>

  </div>

  <div class="nhsuk-tabs__panel nhsuk-tabs__panel--hidden" id="past-year">

    <table class="nhsuk-table">
      <caption class="nhsuk-table__caption">Past year</caption>
      <thead role="rowgroup" class="nhsuk-table__head">
        <tr role="row">
          <th role="columnheader" class="" scope="col">
            Case manager
          </th>
          <th role="columnheader" class=" nhsuk-table__header--numeric" scope="col">
            Cases opened
          </th>
          <th role="columnheader" class=" nhsuk-table__header--numeric" scope="col">
            Cases closed
          </th>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody class="nhsuk-table__body">
        <tr role="row" class="nhsuk-table__row">
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell">David Francis</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">1380</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">1472</td>
        </tr>
        <tr role="row" class="nhsuk-table__row">
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell">Paul Farmer</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">1129</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">1083</td>
        </tr>
        <tr role="row" class="nhsuk-table__row">
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell">Rita Patel</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">1539</td>
          <td class="nhsuk-table__cell nhsuk-table__cell--numeric">1265</td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>

  </div>

</div>

Nunjucks

Nunjucks macro options

Use options to customise the appearance, content and behaviour of a component when using a macro, for example, changing the text.

Some options are required for the macro to work; these are marked as "Required" in the option description.

If you're using Nunjucks macros in production with "html" options, or ones ending with "html", you must sanitise the HTML to protect against cross-site scripting exploits.

Nunjucks arguments for default tabs
Name	Type	Required	Description
id	string	false	This is used for the main component and to compose id attribute for each item.
idPrefix	string	false	String to prefix id for each tab item if no id is specified on each item
items	array	true	Array of tab items.
items[].id	string	true	Specific id attribute for the tab item. If omitted, then idPrefix string is required instead.
items[].label	string	true	The text label of a tab item.
items[].attributes	object	false	HTML attributes (for example data attributes) to add to the tab.
items[].panel	object	true	Content for the panel
items[].panel{}.text	string	true	Specific id attribute for the tab item. If omitted, then idPrefix string is required instead.
items[].panel{}.html	string	true	The title of the panel.
items[].panel{}.attributes	object	false	The body of the panel.

Copy code

{% from 'tabs/macro.njk' import tabs %} 
{% from 'tables/macro.njk' import table %}


{% set pastDayContent %}  
  {{ table({
    responsive: false,
    panel: false,
    caption: "Past day",
    firstCellIsHeader: false,
    head: [
      {
        text: "Case manager"
      },
      {
        text: "Cases opened",
        format: "numeric"
      },
      {
        text: "Cases closed",
        format: "numeric"
      }
    ],
    rows: [
      [
        {
          text: "David Francis"
        },
        {
          text: "3",
          format: "numeric"
        },
        {
          text: "0",
          format: "numeric"
        }
      ],
      [
        {
          text: "Paul Farmer"
        },
        {
          text: "1",
          format: "numeric"
        },
        {
          text: "0",
          format: "numeric"
        }
      ],
      [
        {
          text: "Rita Patel"
        },
        {
          text: "2",
          format: "numeric"
        },
        {
          text: "0",
          format: "numeric"
        }
      ]
    ]
  }) }} 
{% endset -%} {% set pastWeekContent %}
  {{ table({
    responsive: false,
    panel: false,
    caption: "Past week",
    firstCellIsHeader: false,
    head: [
      {
        text: "Case manager"
      },
      {
        text: "Cases opened",
        format: "numeric"
      },
      {
        text: "Cases closed",
        format: "numeric"
      }
    ],
    rows: [
      [
        {
          text: "David Francis"
        },
        {
          text: "24",
          format: "numeric"
        },
        {
          text: "18",
          format: "numeric"
        }
      ],
      [
        {
          text: "Paul Farmer"
        },
        {
          text: "16",
          format: "numeric"
        },
        {
          text: "20",
          format: "numeric"
        }
      ],
      [
        {
          text: "Rita Patel"
        },
        {
          text: "24",
          format: "numeric"
        },
        {
          text: "27",
          format: "numeric"
        }
      ]
    ]
  }) }} 
{% endset -%} {% set pastMonthContent %}
  {{ table({
    responsive: false,
    panel: false,
    caption: "Past month",
    firstCellIsHeader: false,
    head: [
      {
        text: "Case manager"
      },
      {
        text: "Cases opened",
        format: "numeric"
      },
      {
        text: "Cases closed",
        format: "numeric"
      }
    ],
    rows: [
      [
        {
          text: "David Francis"
        },
        {
          text: "98",
          format: "numeric"
        },
        {
          text: "95",
          format: "numeric"
        }
      ],
      [
        {
          text: "Paul Farmer"
        },
        {
          text: "122",
          format: "numeric"
        },
        {
          text: "131",
          format: "numeric"
        }
      ],
      [
        {
          text: "Rita Patel"
        },
        {
          text: "126",
          format: "numeric"
        },
        {
          text: "142",
          format: "numeric"
        }
      ]
    ]
  }) }} 
{% endset -%} {% set pastYearContent %}
  {{ table({
    responsive: false,
    panel: false,
    caption: "Past year",
    firstCellIsHeader: false,
    head: [
      {
        text: "Case manager"
      },
      {
        text: "Cases opened",
        format: "numeric"
      },
      {
        text: "Cases closed",
        format: "numeric"
      }
    ],
    rows: [
      [
        {
          text: "David Francis"
        },
        {
          text: "1380",
          format: "numeric"
        },
        {
          text: "1472",
          format: "numeric"
        }
      ],
      [
        {
          text: "Paul Farmer"
        },
        {
          text: "1129",
          format: "numeric"
        },
        {
          text: "1083",
          format: "numeric"
        }
      ],
      [
        {
          text: "Rita Patel"
        },
        {
          text: "1539",
          format: "numeric"
        },
        {
          text: "1265",
          format: "numeric"
        }
      ]
    ]
  }) }}   
{% endset -%} 
{{ tabs({ 
  items: [ 
  { 
    label: "Past day", 
    id: "past-day", 
    panel: { 
      html: pastDayContent 
      } 
    }, 
    { 
      label: "Past week", 
      id: "past-week", 
      panel: { 
        html: pastWeekContent 
      } 
    }, 
    { 
      label: "Past month", 
      id: "past-month", 
      panel: { 
        html: pastMonthContent 
      } 
    },  
    { 
      label: "Past year", 
      id: "past-year", 
      panel: { 
        html: pastYearContent 
      } 
    } 
  ] 
}) }}

When to use tabs

Tabs can be a helpful way of letting users quickly switch between related information if:

your content can be usefully separated into clearly labelled sections
the 1st section is more relevant than the others for most users
users will not need to view all the sections at once

Tabs can work well for people who use a service regularly, for example, staff using a patient record system. Their need to perform tasks quickly may be greater than their need for simplicity of first-time use.

Test your content without tabs first. Consider if it's better to:

simplify and reduce the amount of content
split the content across multiple pages
keep the content on a single page, separated by headings
use a table of contents to let users navigate quickly to specific sections of content

When not to use tabs

Do not use the tabs component if the total amount of content the tabs contain will make the page slow to load. For this reason, do not use the tabs component as a form of page navigation.

Tabs hide content from users and not everyone will notice them or understand how they work.

Do not use tabs if your users might need to:

read through all of the content in order, for example, to understand a step-by-step process
compare information in different tabs, because having to memorise information and switch backwards and forwards can be difficult

Decide between using tabs, expanders and the details component

Tabs, expanders, and details all hide sections of content which a user can choose to reveal.

If you decide to use 1 of these components, consider if:

the user needs to view more than 1 section at a time – if not, use tabs
the user needs to switch quickly between sections – tabs can show content without pushing other sections down the page, unlike expanders
you have 7 or more sections of content – tabs are arranged horizontally, so may not work well, while expanders are arranged vertically
there are only 1 or 2 sections of short, less important content – the details component is more suitable as it's visually smaller and less prominent than an expander or tabs

How to use tabs

There are 2 ways to use the tabs component. You can use HTML or, if you're using Nunjucks or the NHS.UK Prototype Kit, you can use the Nunjucks macro.

The tabs component uses JavaScript. When JavaScript is not available, users will see the tabbed content on a single page, in order from 1st to last, with a table of contents that links to each of the sections.

This is also how the component currently behaves on small screens, but more research is needed on this.

Use clear labels

Tabs hide content, so the tab labels need to make it very clear what they link to. Otherwise users will not know if they need to click on them.

If you struggle to come up with clear labels, it might be because the way you've separated the content is not clear.

Order the tabs according to user needs

The 1st tab should be the most commonly needed section. Arrange the other tabs in the order that makes most sense for your users.

Do not disable tabs

Disabling elements is normally confusing for users. If there is no content for a tab, either remove the tab or, if that would be confusing for your users, explain why there is no content when the tab is selected.

Avoid tabs that wrap over more than 1 line

If you use too many tabs or they have long labels then they may wrap over more than 1 line. This makes it harder for users to see the connection between the selected tab and its content.

Accessibility

Keyboard users should be able to move focus between tabs using arrow keys and select a tab by pressing enter.

Screen reader users should hear which tab is currently focused, how many tabs there are and whether the current tab is open.

Research and testing

The Government Digital Service (GDS) developed and tested the tabs component. Several NHS services are using tabs but we need to know more about how they test with users.

For example, we need to know:

which types of services tabs work best in
that this approach to tabs is the best option for screen reader users and sighted keyboard users
how this component should behave on small screen sizes

Help us improve this guidance

Share insights or feedback and take part in the discussion. We use GitHub as a collaboration space. All the information on it is open to the public.

Feedback or share insights on GitHub

Read more about how to feedback or share insights.

If you have any questions, get in touch with the service manual team.

Updated: July 2024