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Textarea

A field for free text over several lines.

In Accessible first

See it live​

Start Storybook to see it live: npm run storybook
Live from StorybookOpen Textarea in StorybookSee it in dark

When to use it​

In Accessible first: Longer answers.

  • Use it when: Comments, descriptions, anything longer than one line.
  • Not when: A one-line value (input), or a known set of options.

Instead:

How Accessible first uses it​

Field label or column header
Use type.label, above the field, always visible
Not A placeholder as the label
Labels must stay visible while typing.

Words​

  • Use common words. Explain any term you must use.
  • One idea per sentence. Put the action first.
  • Never blame the person.
  • Use: Continue, Change, Start, You. Avoid: Invalid, Utilise, Submit, Error code.

The labels components use, from the voice tokens:

  • content.action.commit: Continue
  • content.action.cancel: Go back
  • content.action.destroy: Delete
  • content.action.retry: Try again
  • content.action.empty-action: Start a new application

See Voice and tone for the whole voice.

Accessibility and keyboard​

Test before you ship:

  • It has a visible label; a limit is announced as people type. undefined

Use it in code​

npx open-ds add textarea

The component reads only component keys and semantic tokens, so it follows the brand and mode on <html>.

Tokens it reads​

Textarea reads 14 tokens of its own, each an alias of a semantic token. Each row is one part: its own token, the semantic it aliases, and the value it ends at. Change a semantic and every component that reads it follows; override one of Textarea's tokens to change Textarea alone.

Changes with theme

Accessible first decides what changes when you switch theme. Here a switch changes colors only, so the marked rows differ between light and dark; everything else holds steady.

PartIts token and the semantic it aliasesValue
Textarea
Cornercomponent.textarea.radiusradius.controlvar(--textarea-radius)radius.6:0.375rem
Border
Changes with theme		component.textarea.bordercolor.border.strongvar(--textarea-border)Lightgray.light.500:#595959Darkgray.dark.500:#949494
Padding, left and rightcomponent.textarea.padding-xspace.inset.control-xvar(--textarea-padding-x)space.24:1.5rem
Padding, top and bottomcomponent.textarea.padding-ycomponent-spacing-map.x2var(--textarea-padding-y)space.8:0.5rem
Text sizecomponent.textarea.font-sizetype.body.font-sizevar(--textarea-font-size)font.size.19:1.1875rem
Shadowcomponent.textarea.shadowelevation.cardvar(--textarea-shadow)shadow.none
Label placeholder
Changes with theme		component.textarea.label-placeholdercolor.text.mutedvar(--textarea-label-placeholder)Lightgray.light.500:#595959Darkgray.dark.500:#949494
Border focus
Changes with theme
on focus		component.textarea.border-focuscolor.border.focusvar(--textarea-border-focus)Lightblue.light.600:#0B4FC0Darkblue.dark.600:#8AB4F8
Disabled opacity disabled
when disabled		component.textarea.disabled-opacity-disabledopacity.disabledvar(--textarea-disabled-opacity-disabled)opacity.50:0.5
Border invalid
Changes with theme
when invalid		component.textarea.border-invalidcolor.status.dangervar(--textarea-border-invalid)Lightred.light.600:#C42B2BDarkred.dark.600:#F28B8B
Focus ring invalid
Changes with theme
when invalid		component.textarea.focus-ring-invalidcolor.status.dangervar(--textarea-focus-ring-invalid)Lightred.light.600:#C42B2BDarkred.dark.600:#F28B8B
Focus
on focus		component.textarea.focusborder-width.focusvar(--textarea-focus)border-width.3:3px
Focus ring focus
Changes with theme
on focus		component.textarea.focus-ring-focuscolor.border.focusvar(--textarea-focus-ring-focus)Lightblue.light.600:#0B4FC0Darkblue.dark.600:#8AB4F8
Focus ring offset focus
Changes with theme
on focus		component.textarea.focus-ring-offset-focuscolor.surface.canvasvar(--textarea-focus-ring-offset-focus)Lightgray.light.50:#F7F7F7Darkgray.dark.0:#0A0A0A
From the system
Edge
Changes with theme		color.border.default
straight from the system, through --border		Lightgray.light.200 · #D6D6D6Darkgray.dark.100 · #222222