Disclosure
A disclosure keeps content folded under a heading or a short phrase until the reader opens it. Use it for detail most readers skip, not for anything the task needs.
What it is
A section disclosure is a row with a chevron and a heading, and it opens a panel below. An inline disclosure is a short phrase inside the content, such as Show quoted text under an email.
Ramesh Thapa
Welder, Split
Documents
- Passport
- Valid to 2031
- CV
- Uploaded 12 September
- Police certificate
- Requested
Work permit
- Status
- Visa approved
- Employer
- Split shipyard
- Valid until
- 3 November 2027
Interview notes
- Interviewer
- Ana Horvat
- Welding
- MIG and TIG, eight years
- Start
- Early November
Contract
- Sent
- 26 September 2026
- Signed
- Waiting
Thanks, Marko. The team can start on 3 November, and I will send the signed contracts on Monday.
Ana
Show quoted text
On 26 September 2026, Marko Babić wrote:
Can the welders start in early November? The client needs twelve people at the Split yard.
When to use it
Use a disclosure for content a reader may want but seldom needs, such as the quoted text of an email or the interview notes in a candidate's file.
Keep in view what the task requires: a field that must be filled, a start date or a salary does not go inside a closed section. For a long form, show its sections. To move between pages, use the side navigation.
Section disclosure
The chevron leads the row. It points right while the section is closed and turns to point down when it opens. The panel's text lines up with the first letter of the heading.
In a dense side panel used with a mouse, such as a list of folders, the row is compact, with smaller bold text and a smaller chevron.
Documents
- Passport
- Valid to 2031
- CV
- Uploaded 12 September
- Police certificate
- Requested
Work permit
- Status
- Visa approved
- Employer
- Split shipyard
- Valid until
- 3 November 2027
Interview notes
- Interviewer
- Ana Horvat
- Welding
- MIG and TIG, eight years
- Start
- Early November
- Row height
- At least 44 px
- Heading
- Body, 16 px on 26 px, bold
- --type-body
- Chevron
- 16 px, before the heading, a quarter turn when open
- --text-muted
- Padding
- 8 px before the chevron, 12 px at the end
- --space-2
- Compact row
- Bold, padding 4 px by 6 px, a 14 px chevron
- Fill under the pointer
- Faint, radius 8 px
- --glass-fill-hover
- Space below an open panel
- 16 px
- --space-4
- Space between sections
- 4 px, no lines
- --space-1
Inline disclosure
An inline disclosure is a phrase that starts with Show and turns into Hide once the content is open. The content appears directly below it.
Show message details
- From
- Marko Babić
- To
- Ana Horvat
- Date
- 26 September 2026, 9:42
Hide message details
- From
- Marko Babić
- To
- Ana Horvat
- Date
- 26 September 2026, 9:42
- Phrase
- Medium weight in muted ink, full ink under the pointer
- --text-muted
- Chevron
- 14 px, 4 px after the phrase
- --text-muted
- Target
- At least 24 px high, 44 px on touch
Behavior
Sections start closed. Open one by default only when most readers need it. Opening a section leaves the others as they are, so a reader can compare two side by side.
The panel opens and the chevron turns in 150 milliseconds. With reduced motion, the panel appears without moving.
When a reader searches the page, the browser opens a closed section that holds a match. A printed page shows every section open. Nest one level at most: deeper structure is a tree.
On a wide screen, a group of sections may stay open all the time. Its headings are then plain headings, not toggles.
Writing the heading
Name what the section holds, in sentence case with no full stop: Work permit, not More. Keep it to one line at 360 px.
Keyboard and screen readers
Tab reaches each heading, and Enter or Space opens and closes it. A screen reader hears the heading, that it is a button and whether it is expanded. When sections form a list on a page, each heading is also a heading in the page outline.
Permitted and not permitted
Permitted
A closed section for detail most readers skip.
A heading that names what it holds, such as Work permit.
Not permitted
Required information inside a closed section.
A reader who does not open it misses what the task needs.
A section that is always open but still looks and acts like a toggle.
A screen reader says it is closed while the content shows.