UI shell right panel

Carbon bakes keyboard operation into its components, improving the experience of blind users and others who operate via the keyboard. Carbon incorporates many other accessibility considerations, some of which are described below.

The switcher button is the last item in the UI shell header. Activating the button (with Space or Enter) opens the right panel over the main content area. All actionable links in the panel can be reached by Tab. Activating any of the links (with Enter) loads new content and closes the right panel. The panel can also be closed by pressing Esc or by re-activating the switcher button (which receives an X icon on activation).

example of right panel keyboard activation

Activating the switch button with Enter or Space toggles the display of the right panel.

example of right panel keyboard interaction

Links are reached by Tab and activated by Enter key. Activating links or pressing Esc key closes panel.

When necessary, designers may need to change the icon-only switcher button’s name to match the right panel’s scope. Depending on the context of the design, common button names include “Switch site” or “App switcher”.

the switcher button is annotated as "app switcher"

Annotate a name change to the switcher button if needed in your design.

Keep these considerations in mind if you are modifying Carbon or creating a custom component.

The right panel is in a <nav> section.
All links in the right panel are in a <ul> structure, which provides additional information to assistive technologies.

Help us improve by providing feedback, asking questions, requesting features, or leaving any other comments on GitHub.

What Carbon provides

Keyboard interaction

Design recommendations

Annotating the switcher button name

Development considerations

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