Spectrum

Version 4.0.0

Action bar

Action bars are used for single and bulk selection patterns, when a user needs to perform actions on either a single or multiple items at the same time.

Image of two action bars which both feature an item counter on the left side and an action group with icons for each action on the right. The first action bar has a white background with light-themed components and the second has a blue background with white, over-background components. Both action bars have an item count of 224 selected, actions Edit, Copy, and More

Table of contents#

Anatomy
Options
Composition
Behaviors
Usage guidelines
Keyboard interactions
Changelog
Design checklist

Anatomy#

Image illustrating through labels the component parts of an action bar including its close button, item counter, and quiet style action group.

Options#

Key example of two action bars. The first has a white background with light-themed components, and the second is emphasized and has a blue background with white, over-background components. Both action bars have an item count of 224 selected, actions Edit, Copy, and more actions.

Emphasis#

An action bar is not emphasized by default. This is best used for when it needs to blend in with the rest of the UI, directing a user’s focus to elsewhere in a view.

The emphasized action bar has a blue background that adds visual emphasis on the actions and selection. Use this for when the bar should call attention (e.g., floating in a table).

Table of options#

From the design point of view, each component has a number of options. These options and their names are platform agnostic, and each implementation should adapt these to fit into their framework.

Property	Values	Default value
is emphasized	yes / no	no

Composition#

Close button#

An action bar has a close button to quickly and easily deselect all items and close.

Item counter#

Users need to be able to readily view how many items will be affected by taking an action. Include a count of how many items are selected.

Action group#

Action bars always include an action group. Show the most common actions that are contextual to your use case, and limit these to five or less.

At larger screen or section sizes, use an action group that shows a label and icon. For smaller screen or section sizes, use an icon-only action group. Place any overflow actions into a menu at the end of the bar.

Behaviors#

Image illustrating the bottom justified position of the action bar with 12 pixel margins on both sides and from the bottom for desktop, or 16 pixel margins on both sides for mobile.

Placement#

When a user selects items with relevant actions, an action bar appears at the bottom of the viewport. The bar should have margins of 12 pixels on desktop and 16 pixels on mobile on the sides and bottom.

Safe zone#

Include a safe zone of at least 24 pixels between the item counter and the action group.

Motion and stickiness#

Action bars slide and fade in from the bottom of the page or section. They remain or "stick" there until a user either deselects the items or navigates away.

Usage guidelines#

Don't add a drag bar#

An action bar appears when items in a list or grid view are selected, and it remains in place until items are deselected or a user navigates away. Action bars can not be moved or dragged.

Key example of an action bar with a drag bar incorrectly added to its left side. Selected item count of 224 selected, actions Edit, Copy, and more actions.

Allow scrolling to view underlying content#

Action bars appear on top of content. Allow space for a user to still be able to view the content underneath, especially if they're taking actions on a table or a list of items and need to be able to scroll.

Key example of an implementation of an action bar correctly allowing for extra space at the bottom of a table so the action bar does not obscure items in the last row. The action bar appears below 2 items in a table showing image filenames.

Key example of an implementation of an action bar incorrectly obscuring the items in the last row of a table. The action bar blocks the third item in a table with three items showing image filenames.

Don’t use quick actions#

Instead of quick actions, use an action bar for both single and bulk selection patterns. An action bar is useful for when a user needs to perform actions on either a single or multiple items at the same time. It can be used on either a grid view or a table view.

Don’t use quick actions — a deprecated component — because it presents conflicting nested actions (for example, a whole asset card could open a detailed view). This makes targeting specific actions very difficult, especially on smaller screens or with the keyboard.

Key example of the correct way to surface actions for asset cards by using an action bar. An edit action, copy action, and a more actions affordance, inside an action bar at the bottom of the page, on top of the asset grid. 2 asset cards are selected.

Key example of the incorrect way to surface actions for asset cards. An edit action, copy action, and a more actions, all inside the asset card itself.

Keyboard interactions#

Key	Interaction
Tab	Move from component to component, from start to end, within the action bar.
Left or Right Arrow	Move within component groups from left to right (e.g., first action button to second action button within an action group).

Changelog#

Date	Number	Notes
Apr 06, 2022	4.0.0	Updated all colors to 6.0.0
Jan 27, 2022	3.0.0	Updated clear "x" icon to a close button
Nov 22, 2021	2.0.0	Renamed "bulk action bar" to "action bar"
Jan 08, 2021	1.0.1	Changed checkbox to a close button
Feb 27, 2020	1.0.0	This component has been added to the website

Design checklist#

N/A

All interactive states

Includes all interactive states that are applicable (hover, down, focus, keyboard focus, disabled).

All color themes

Works properly across all four color themes (lightest, light, dark, darkest).

All platform scales

Includes a desktop scale (UWP, macOS, web desktop) and a mobile scale (iOS, Android, web mobile).

Accessible use of color

Color is not used as the only visual means of conveying information (WCAG 2.0 1.4.1).

Accessible contrast for text

Text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for small text and at least 3:1 for large text (WCAG 2.0 1.4.3).

Accessible contrast for UI components

Visual information required to identify components and states (except inactive components) has a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 (WCAG 2.1 1.4.11).

Content design

UI language and information design considerations have been incorporated into component design.

Defined options

Includes relevant options (variant, style, size, orientation, optional iconography, decorations, selection, error state, etc.)

Defined behaviors

Includes guidelines for keyboard focus, layout (wrapping, truncation, overflow), animation, interactions, etc.

Usage guidelines

Includes a list of dos and don'ts that highlight best practices and common mistakes.

Writing guidelines

Includes content standards or usage guidelines for how to write or format in-product content for the component.

Internationalization guidelines

Works properly across various locales and includes guidelines for bi-directionality (RTL).

Keyboard interactions

Follows WCAG 2.0 standards for keyboard accessibility guidelines and includes a description of the keyboard interactions.

Design tokens

All design attributes (color, typography, layout, animation, etc.) are available as design tokens.

UI kit

Includes a downloadable XD file that shows multiple options, states, color themes, and platform scales.

Generated UI kit

Includes a downloadable XD file, generated by code using design tokens defined in Spectrum DNA, and shows multiple options, states, color themes, and platform scales.

In Spectrum for Adobe XD plugin

Component is included in the Spectrum for Adobe XD plugin.

Writing for onboarding

Action button