UI shell left 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 left panel is comprised of both expandable sections (often called “sub-menus”) and links to content. All items can be reached by Tab. Toggling a collapsed section with Space or Enter expands it, which reveals additional links. Activating any of the links (with Enter) updates the main content area and puts focus back at the top of the page. The link becomes bold to show it is the current page. (It remains in the tab order, but can no longer be activated.)

On smaller screens, or if content is zoomed up to approximately 175% magnification, Carbon responsively hides the left panel behind a ‘hamburger’ button, which appears at the start of the UI shell header. Activating the button (with Space or Enter) causes the left panel to appear. It overlays the main content area, which often becomes dimmed. The hamburger button’s icon becomes an X, and must be activated to close the left panel.

The left panel can also be implemented as a “Side rail” variant, which slides into view from the left side when reached by keyboard or hovered by mouse. Keyboard interaction within the revealed left panel does not change. When users tab out of the left panel, the side rail slides out of view.

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