Input message

Contributors

Liz Lantz (VSA Authenticated Experience Team)

Examples

Informational

Success

Warning

Error

Mock-ups

• Mock-up demonstrating an update to existing settings. First fieldset is interactive.
• Mock-up demonstrating use case of a Veteran who has never updated their settings.
  • All field sets are interactive
  • Last fieldset demonstrates error state
• Design specs

Usage

When to use this variation

This message pattern is a mobile friendly, in-line way to communicate information about inputs. It was developed to entice users to take an action on an optional input, and has 4 states:

• Success (green) communicates the successful update of information, via an API call
• Warning (yellow) draws attention to an input, usually before an API call is made.
• Error (red) communicates the failure of an update of information, via an API call
• Information (blue) draws attention to an input, usually before an API call is made.

When to consider something else

If you need to tell the Veteran they’ve missed a required field on an application, or they’ve entered data in the wrong format, use the current error pattern instead.

How to use Input Messages

• Keep message content short.
• Use the feedback icons from the design system.
• Use the success, warning, error states on forms that don’t require the user to click a button to submit the form.

Other input message styles

Error messages

• When a user is filling out an online application, use the current error pattern when a user has
  • missed a required field
  • entered data incorrectly

Code usage

Radio inputs for notification settings

Accessibility considerations

• Icon needs to have alternative text (use sr-only text or an aria-label) so screen readers have an equivalent understanding of the purpose/nature of the message.

• When the message changes after a user interacts with an input, use aria-live="polite" to announce the change.

Research

• This component was evaluated as part of a Feb 2023 usability study for VA.gov’s notification settings feature. The feature uses an auto-save functionality and relies on the input message pattern to communicate to users after they interact with an input.
• Participants stated the feedback provided by this compontent made them feel confident that their changes had been saved.

  It’s notifying me that it’s been saved. I’m trusting that this is going to work and I don’t need to call. -P9

Component checklist