Component Blueprints

Modals

Modals are used to display content in a layer above the app. This paradigm is used in cases such as the creation or editing of a record, as well as various types of messaging and wizards.

About Modals#

Default modals are used in the vast majority of cases. They are as wide as 50% of the viewport, but include a minimum and maximum width to avoid going too narrow or too wide.

Modals always have an equal amount of space at the top and bottom to account for the height of the close button.

Modals grow according to how much content is within, but once the modal full height (including the previously mentioned space on top and bottom), the content area will begin to scroll. (This scrolling is currently not available in Salesforce1 Mobile.)

Modals can have a tagline in the header, simply by adding a paragraph after the heading.

By default, the content area of the modal does not have spacing. This allows for content such as Tables to be full-width to the modal. To get spacing when you need it, apply a padding utility (.slds-p-around_medium).

Modal headers can also have taglines, if you need to provide additional context. This tagline can also contain links, or the whole thing could be a link in and of itself.

Large modals call for large amounts of content. The height follows the same behavior and styles of other modals. The width changes to 90% of the viewport, and uses a wider minimum width and no maximum width.

These are modals that require a linearly directional paradigm of navigation (“Next” and “Back”, etc.) — the actionable buttons in the modal footer live on the left and right, rather than all on the right. These can either be within a large or default modal, depending on the use case.

If you're using a Modal for a system alert that the user must acknowledge, consider using a Prompt.

Accessibility#

Modals, by definition, trap focus. This means that if a user presses Tab or Shift+Tab while their keyboard focus is in the modal, their focus should stay in and cycle through the modal’s content. Focus shouldn’t return to the underlying page until the user presses the Esc key, presses an explicit “Cancel” or “Close” button in the modal, or performs another action that closes the modal.

Expected markup#

  • Modal has role="dialog"
  • When the modal is open, everything behind it has HTML attribute aria-hidden="true", so assistive technology won't read out the underlying page. The best way to do this is to give the modal and the page separate wrapper elements and toggle aria-hidden="true"/aria-hidden="false" on the main page's wrapper depending on whether or not the modal is open.
  • Modal contains an HTML heading. This is an h1 tag by default but should update according to the surrounding DOM structure. While a semantic heading tag is preferable, if necessary applying role=”heading” and aria-level to a more generic element is acceptable.
  • Modal has an aria-labelledby attribute whose value is the id of the modal’s heading
  • Modal has an optional aria-describedby attribute whose value is the id of the modal's content. This should not be used for all modals, but in instances where the modal is being used as an analog to a javascript confirm() or alert() dialog to deliver a short prompt that can be responded to with a confirm/cancel button set (eg: Prompt).
  • Buttons which close the modal should have the same accessible text per WCAG guidelines.

Expected keyboard interactions#

  • Esc key closes the modal and moves focus to whatever triggered the modal to open
  • Tab key at bottom of modal cycles focus back to first focusable element at top of modal
  • Shift+Tab keys at top of modal cycle focus back to last focusable element at bottom of modal
  • Enter key submits modal’s form data, if applicable

Focus guidelines#

  • Focus for modals must follow the guidelines described in the Accessibility Guidelines for Dialogs. Pay special attention to where focus is set when the modal opens.
  • If no interactive element exists to set focus when the modal opens, add the appropriate tabindex attribute to the header to allow for programmatic focus (see "Footless" example, below).

Mobile#

On mobile devices, such as phones and other devices that have touch as the primary method of interaction, modals will have buttons of increased size to accommodate tapping with a finger instead of the more precise mouse cursor.

Below is a live example of what to expect in that context. No code changes are needed in the Salesforce platform context as this change occurs automatically in Salesforce native mobile applications. For those users not on the Salesforce platform, these modifications will occur automatically when the secondary touch stylesheet is loaded and the device has touch as the primary method of interaction.

Base#

<section role="dialog" tabindex="-1" aria-modal="true" aria-labelledby="modal-heading-01" class="slds-modal slds-fade-in-open">
  <div class="slds-modal__container">
    <button class="slds-button slds-button_icon slds-modal__close slds-button_icon-inverse">
      <svg class="slds-button__icon slds-button__icon_large" aria-hidden="true">

Examples#

Taglines#

<section role="dialog" tabindex="-1" aria-modal="true" aria-labelledby="modal-heading-01" class="slds-modal slds-fade-in-open">
  <div class="slds-modal__container">
    <button class="slds-button slds-button_icon slds-modal__close slds-button_icon-inverse">
      <svg class="slds-button__icon slds-button__icon_large" aria-hidden="true">

Headless#

<section role="dialog" tabindex="-1" aria-modal="true" aria-label="Meaningful description of the modal content" class="slds-modal slds-fade-in-open">
  <div class="slds-modal__container">
    <button class="slds-button slds-button_icon slds-modal__close slds-button_icon-inverse">
      <svg class="slds-button__icon slds-button__icon_large" aria-hidden="true">

Footless#

<section role="dialog" tabindex="-1" aria-modal="true" aria-labelledby="modal-heading-01" class="slds-modal slds-fade-in-open">
  <div class="slds-modal__container">
    <button class="slds-button slds-button_icon slds-modal__close slds-button_icon-inverse">
      <svg class="slds-button__icon slds-button__icon_large" aria-hidden="true">

Directional#

<section role="dialog" tabindex="-1" aria-modal="true" aria-labelledby="modal-heading-01" class="slds-modal slds-fade-in-open">
  <div class="slds-modal__container">
    <button class="slds-button slds-button_icon slds-modal__close slds-button_icon-inverse">
      <svg class="slds-button__icon slds-button__icon_large" aria-hidden="true">

Small Modal#

<section role="dialog" tabindex="-1" aria-modal="true" aria-labelledby="modal-heading-01" class="slds-modal slds-fade-in-open slds-modal_small">
  <div class="slds-modal__container">
    <button class="slds-button slds-button_icon slds-modal__close slds-button_icon-inverse">
      <svg class="slds-button__icon slds-button__icon_large" aria-hidden="true">

Medium Modal#

<section role="dialog" tabindex="-1" aria-modal="true" aria-labelledby="modal-heading-01" class="slds-modal slds-fade-in-open slds-modal_medium">
  <div class="slds-modal__container">
    <button class="slds-button slds-button_icon slds-modal__close slds-button_icon-inverse">
      <svg class="slds-button__icon slds-button__icon_large" aria-hidden="true">

Large Modal#

<section role="dialog" tabindex="-1" aria-modal="true" aria-labelledby="modal-heading-01" class="slds-modal slds-fade-in-open slds-modal_large">
  <div class="slds-modal__container">
    <button class="slds-button slds-button_icon slds-modal__close slds-button_icon-inverse">
      <svg class="slds-button__icon slds-button__icon_large" aria-hidden="true">

Styling Hooks Overview#

Use these CSS Custom Properties as hooks to customize this SLDS component with your own style. For more information, read the technical documentation.

CategoryStyling Hook NameValue Type(s)Fallback Value
Box Shadow
--slds-c-modal-shadow
String0 2px 3px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.16)
Color
--slds-c-backdrop-color-background
Colorrgba(8, 7, 7, 0.6)
--slds-c-modal-color-border
Color#e5e5e5
--slds-c-modal-content-color-background
Colorwhite
--slds-c-modal-content-text-color
Color
--slds-c-modal-footer-color-background
Color#f3f3f3
--slds-c-modal-footer-text-color
Color
--slds-c-modal-header-color-background
Colorwhite
--slds-c-modal-header-text-color
Color
Font
--slds-c-modal-heading-font-size
Dimension1.25rem
Radius
--slds-c-modal-radius-border
Dimension0.25rem
Sizing
--slds-c-modal-sizing-border
Dimension2px
Spacing
--slds-c-modal-footer-spacing-block-end
Dimension0.75rem
--slds-c-modal-footer-spacing-block-start
Dimension0.75rem
--slds-c-modal-footer-spacing-inline-end
Dimension1rem
--slds-c-modal-footer-spacing-inline-start
Dimension1rem
--slds-c-modal-header-spacing-block-end
Dimension1rem
--slds-c-modal-header-spacing-block-start
Dimension1rem
--slds-c-modal-header-spacing-inline-end
Dimension1rem
--slds-c-modal-header-spacing-inline-start
Dimension1rem
Text
--slds-c-modal-heading-font-weight
String, Number
--slds-c-modal-heading-line-height
Number1.25

Overview of CSS Classes#

Selector.slds-modal
Summary
Supportdev-ready
Restrictsection
VariantTrue
Selector.slds-modal__menuDeprecated
Summary

Creates the shaded menu area for the modal.

Restrict.slds-modal div
Selector.slds-modal__container
Summary

Centers and sizes the modal horizontally and confines modal within viewport height

Restrict.slds-modal div
Selector.slds-modal__header
Summary

Creates the Modal Header container.

Restrict.slds-modal header
Selector.slds-modal__header_emptyDeprecated
Summary

Use when modal header has no content

Restrict.slds-modal__header
Selector.slds-modal__title
Summary

Modal title (optional)

Restrict.slds-modal__header h1, .slds-modal__header h2, .slds-modal__header h3, .slds-modal__header h4, .slds-modal__header h5
Selector.slds-modal__content
Summary

Creates the scrollable content area for the modal.

Restrict.slds-modal div
Selector.slds-modal__content_headless
Summary

Headless modal styling

Restrict.slds-modal__content
Selector.slds-modal__content_footless
Summary

Footless modal styling

Restrict.slds-modal__content
Selector.slds-modal__footer
Summary

Creates the Modal Footer container.

Restrict.slds-modal footer
Selector.slds-modal__footer_directional
Summary

Makes buttons inside the footer spread to both left and right.

Restrict.slds-modal__footer
ModifierTrue
Selector.slds-modal__close
Summary

Positions the close button to the top right outside of the modal.

Restrict.slds-modal button
Selector.slds-modal_small
Summary

Widens the modal to take more horizontal space than default

Restrict.slds-modal
ModifierTrue
Selector.slds-modal_medium
Summary

Widens the modal to take more horizontal space than small

Restrict.slds-modal
ModifierTrue
Selector.slds-modal_large
Summary

Widens the modal to take more horizontal space than large

Restrict.slds-modal
ModifierTrue
Selector.slds-fade-in-open
Summary

Allows the modal to be visible.

Restrict.slds-modal
ModifierTrue
Selector.slds-slide-up-open
Summary
Restrict.slds-modal
ModifierTrue
Selector.slds-slide-up-saving
Summary
Restrict.slds-modal
ModifierTrue
Selector.slds-slide-down-cancel
Summary
Restrict.slds-modal
ModifierTrue
Selector.slds-backdrop
Summary

Creates the shaded backdrop used behind the modal.

Restrict.slds-modal ~ div
Selector.slds-backdrop_open
Summary

Allows the backdrop to be visible.

Restrict.slds-backdrop
ModifierTrue

Modals Release Notes

2.18.0

Changed

  • Added slds-modal__content_footless class to example for clarity.
  • Added clarifying notes around modal focus and header for accessibility, and modified Footless example to show tabindex.

2.17.0

Added

  • Added slds as the default namespace with sds fallbacks for Styling Hooks.
  • Added CSS Custom Property reassignments for variants and states.
  • Added clarifying notes around modal focus for accessibility.
  • Added .slds-modal__content_headless and slds-modal__content_footless classes for styling modal content.

Changed

  • Changed header and footer to generic div tags for better accessibility semantics.
  • Changed assistive text for close buttons in modals, and added notes to accessibility documentation.
  • Changed default header level from h2 to h1 for semantics and added more description around using headers in the Accessibility section.
  • Removed redundant title attribute from modal close button.
  • Updated use of aria-describedby attribute for modal content, and clarified in accessibility documentation section.
  • Added the role="presentation" attribute to the modal backdrop.
  • Moved slds-modal__close out of the modal header container and adjusted styles and annotations accordingly.
  • Headless modal variant no longer requires slds-modal__header in the markup.

Deprecated

  • Deprecated older styles for previous markup of the slds-modal__close button.

2.14.0

Added

  • Added styling hooks for text color that let you set the color for the whole modal or a specific section.
  • Added styling hooks for background color that let you set the background-color for the whole modal or a specific section.

Fixed

  • Fixed incorrect styling hooks on heading

2.13.3

Fixed

  • Fixed incorrect styling hooks on footer.

2.13.1

Fixed

  • Fixed issue where mobile text size wasn't accurately sized.
  • Small improvements to the UI text.

2.13.0

Added

  • Enabled styling hooks for modal. See modal's styling hooks overview table for a full listing of the currently available hooks.

2.11.7

Added

  • Added documentation and examples for mobile/touch context

2.10.0

Changed

  • Changed slds-modal_small width to percentage-based to address the disparity of size relationship between slds-modal_small and other sized modals slds-modal_medium and slds-modal_large)
  • Deprecated use of slds-text-heading_medium utility class on Modal title, added class slds-modal__title to declare styles for the Modal title.
  • For touch devices:
    • Set font weight of Modal title to $font-weight-bold
    • Set tap target size of the Modal close button to $height-tappable (2.75rem)