Components

Button

A button draws attention to important actions with a large selectable surface.

Default

Secondary color

Accent cool color

Accent warm color

Base color

Outline

Outline inverse

Big button

<h3 class="site-preview-heading">Default</h3>
<button class="usa-button">Default</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--hover">Hover</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--active">Active</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-focus">Focus</button>
<button class="usa-button" disabled>Disabled</button
><button class="usa-button usa-button--unstyled">Unstyled button</button>

<h3 class="site-preview-heading">Secondary color</h3>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--secondary">Default</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--secondary usa-button--hover">
  Hover
</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--secondary usa-button--active">
  Active
</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--secondary usa-focus">Focus</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--secondary" disabled>Disabled</button
><button class="usa-button usa-button--secondary usa-button--unstyled">
  Unstyled button
</button>

<h3 class="site-preview-heading">Accent cool color</h3>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--accent-cool">Default</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--accent-cool usa-button--hover">
  Hover
</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--accent-cool usa-button--active">
  Active
</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--accent-cool usa-focus">Focus</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--accent-cool" disabled>Disabled</button
><button class="usa-button usa-button--accent-cool usa-button--unstyled">
  Unstyled button
</button>

<h3 class="site-preview-heading">Accent warm color</h3>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--accent-warm">Default</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--accent-warm usa-button--hover">
  Hover
</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--accent-warm usa-button--active">
  Active
</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--accent-warm usa-focus">Focus</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--accent-warm" disabled>Disabled</button
><button class="usa-button usa-button--accent-warm usa-button--unstyled">
  Unstyled button
</button>

<h3 class="site-preview-heading">Base color</h3>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--base">Default</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--base usa-button--hover">Hover</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--base usa-button--active">Active</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--base usa-focus">Focus</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--base" disabled>Disabled</button
><button class="usa-button usa-button--base usa-button--unstyled">
  Unstyled button
</button>

<h3 class="site-preview-heading">Outline</h3>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--outline">Default</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--outline usa-button--hover">Hover</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--outline usa-button--active">
  Active
</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--outline usa-focus">Focus</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--outline" disabled>Disabled</button
><button class="usa-button usa-button--outline usa-button--unstyled">
  Unstyled button
</button>

<h3 class="site-preview-heading">Outline inverse</h3>
<div class="bg-base-darkest padding-1" style="max-width: fit-content">
  <button class="usa-button usa-button--outline usa-button--inverse">
    Default
  </button>
  <button
    class="usa-button usa-button--outline usa-button--inverse usa-button--hover"
  >
    Hover
  </button>
  <button
    class="
      usa-button usa-button--outline usa-button--inverse usa-button--active
    "
  >
    Active
  </button>
  <button class="usa-button usa-button--outline usa-button--inverse usa-focus">
    Focus
  </button>
  <button class="usa-button usa-button--outline usa-button--inverse" disabled>
    Disabled</button
  ><button
    class="
      usa-button usa-button--outline usa-button--inverse usa-button--unstyled
    "
  >
    Unstyled button
  </button>
</div>

<h3 class="site-preview-heading">Big button</h3>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--big">Default</button>
<button class="usa-button usa-button--big usa-button--unstyled">
  Unstyled button
</button>

Guidance

When to use the button component

  • Important actions. Use buttons for the most important actions you want users to take on your site, such as Download, Sign up or Log out.

When to consider something else

  • Linking between a site’s pages. Use regular links instead.
  • If the action is less popular or less important. Less popular or less important actions may be visually styled as links.

Usability guidance

  • Use standard buttons for actions that go a next step.
  • Use outline buttons for actions that happen on the current page.
  • Give an important action a distinctive style. Style the button most users should click in a way that distinguishes it from other buttons on the page. Try using the usa-button--big variant or the most visually distinct color variant.
  • Make sure buttons look selectable. Use color variations to distinguish static, hover, and active states.
  • Avoid using too many buttons on a page.
  • Use sentence case for button labels.
  • Keep button text short. Button text should be as short as possible with action words that clearly explain what will happen when the button is selected (for example, Download, View or Sign up).
  • Lead with a verb. Make the first word of the button’s text a verb. For example, instead of Complaint filing label the button File a complaint.
  • Icons can also be helpful. At times, consider adding an icon to signal specific actions (Download, Open in a new window, etc).

Accessibility

  • Buttons should display a visible focus state when users tab to them.
  • Use standard markup. Avoid using <div> or <img> tags to create buttons. Screen readers don’t automatically know either is a usable button.
  • Screen readers handle buttons and links differently. When styling links to look like buttons, remember that screen readers handle links slightly differently than they do buttons. Pressing the Space key triggers a button, but pressing the Enter key triggers a link.

Using the button component

  • The examples demonstrate how to use button elements. To use a button style on a link, add the usa-button class to your link.
  • To use a different style button on your link, add button variant classes in addition to usa-button.
  • Use the browser-native disabled attribute for any disabled button. Don’t use usa-button--disabled, which is intended only for debugging and prototyping.

Button settings

Variable Description
$theme-button-font-family

Font family of the button.
$theme-button-border-radius

Button border radius for rounded corners.
$theme-button-small-width

Size of the header search button.
$theme-button-stroke-width

Stroke width of outline button variants.

Button variants

Variant Description

.usa-button--secondary

Button uses secondary color.

.usa-button--accent-cool

Button uses accent-cool color.

.usa-button--accent-warm

Button uses accent-warm color.

.usa-button--base

Button uses base color.

.usa-button--outline

Transparent button with a color stroke.

.usa-button--inverse

Light color button for dark backgrounds.

.usa-button--big

A bigger button.

.usa-button--unstyled

A button that looks like a link.

Package

  • Package usage: @import usa-button
  • Requires: required, global