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<header>
<h1>Making Dropdowns</h1>
<nav class="grid four-column" id="menu">
<div class="nav-item">
<a href="#robot" class="button bg1">See a Robot</a>
</div>
<div class="nav-item">
<a href="#comments" class="button bg2">Comment on Robots</a>
</div>
<div class="nav-item">
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot" class="button bg3">Robots (Wikipedia)</a>
</div>
<div class="nav-item">
<a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/robots?search_source=base_keyword" class="button bg4">Robot Photos</a>
</div>
</nav>
</header>
<!--
Because we don't want our JavaScript to try and manipulate the page until after it loads, it is important that it be the last thing we link on the page.
-->
<script src="js/dropdown.js"></script>
*, *::after, *::before {
box-sizing: border-box;
}
body {
padding: 1em;
}
/*
Setting the grid structure and its responsiveness up
*/
.grid {
display: grid;
}
@media (min-width: 27.5rem) {
.four-column {
grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr;
}
}
@media (min-width: 48rem) {
.four-column {
grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr 1fr 1fr;
}
}
/*
A generic button class to make sure that all buttons follow a similar style and structure.
*/
.button {
display: block;
background-color: #000;
color: white;
text-decoration: none;
transition: background-color 0.3s;
padding: 1em;
border: 0;
width: 100%;
text-align: left;
}
.button:hover, .button:focus {
background-color: #CCC;
}
/*
Specific classes for backgrounds to help distinguish the different buttons.
*/
.bg1 {
background-color: purple;
}
.bg2 {
background-color: green;
}
.bg3 {
background-color: blue;
}
.bg4 {
background-color: red;
}
/*
Here we have added a simple class that will allow us to toggle the visibility of an element on (or off) for the purposes of showing and hiding our menu.
*/
.hidden {
display: none;
}
// PART 1: GETTING STARTED
/*
By setting "use strict" we ensure that we are not committing some common errors and helping with the future-friendliness of our code. For more detail on 'why' I recommend taking a look at https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS/blob/8861041133f496edce0d03885e2e998d50c3414a/get-started/ch1.md#strictly-speaking
*/
"use strict";
/*
Before we start on this tutorial, it is worth noting that within JavaScript we have a whole set of predefined objects, methods (functions that we run on objects), and properties that we can make use of. In this tutorial we will introduce you to some of the most common and useful ones for getting started on integrating JavaScript into your pages.
Our first example is the 'console' object, which is an object provided by the web browser to access the developer tool's console. In the example below, we can use the 'log' method to send messages to our developer's console. Note the structure of the object/method declaration:
object.method(arguments); // << this is a 'statement' in JavaScript
If we use console.log(...) as a object/method to send a message to the console, it looks like this:
console.log('String to send to the console.');
*/
console.log('JavaScript is running.');
/*
Any comments that contain the word 'ACCESSIBILITY' indicates an accessibility-specific consideration of our script.
*/
// PART 2: SELECTING ELEMENTS IN THE DOM
/*
Below we are selecting elements from our DOM (Document Object Model). By casting these elements into variables we can then find out information about them, or set their values much more easily than having to repeatedly select them.
Note that we are again using variables to capture these HTML objects, but in this case we are calling on the 'document' (DOM) object and using the 'querySelector' method to find them. The 'querySelector' method returns the first HTML object in the DOM that matches the CSS-style selector provided. Note the structure:
let nameOfVariable = object.method(argument);
let menu = document.querySelector('#menu');
You may be familiar with using 'var' for declaring JavaScript variables instead of 'let' - it is not wrong to do so. 'let' is a more recent standard that allows us to declare variables that are not globally accessible by default. More information at https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS/blob/8861041133f496edce0d03885e2e998d50c3414a/get-started/ch2.md#declaring-and-using-variables
This finds us the first element with the ID of 'menu', and then casts it into a variable for later access.
*/
let menu = document.querySelector('#menu');
/*
The statement below is very similar to what we have seen earlier, it is just unpacking an object a bit more:
menu - our menu variable we just captured from our DOM just above.
classList - a property (available to document objects) that contains all the classes applied to an element.
add(...) - a method (another name for a function run on an object) that adds the class specified (by name) as it's argument.
So in this case our statement of menu.classList.add('hidden') is saying: (a) select #menu, (b) select its classes, and (c) add the class of 'hidden'.
*/
menu.classList.add('hidden');
/*
Using the setAttribute(...) method we can change the attributes assigned to a specific element. setAttribute(...) expects two arguments, one defining the attribute we want to set, and the second the value we want to set it to. In the example below, we are adding the following attributes to our menu for ACCESSIBILITY purposes:
- 'aria-hidden'; to indicate that our menu is hidden from readers by default
- 'aria-labelledby'; to indicate the element that is a label for our menu
*/
menu.setAttribute('aria-hidden', 'true');
menu.setAttribute('aria-labelledby', 'menu-toggle');
/*
For later use (explained later on in this document) we also want to make sure to capture the header element that wraps the <nav id="#menu"> element. The reasons for this are explained a bit later on.
*/
let header = document.querySelector('header');
// PART 3: ADDING ELEMENTS TO THE PAGE
/*
Because our drop-down will only work if JavaScript is enabled, we are going to use the createlement(...) method to create a <button> element with which we can toggle our dropdown open and closed.
*/
let menuToggle = document.createElement('button');
/*
Much like we did to hide our menu, we can add a class to our new button element which will allow it use all the same styling applied to our existing navigation buttons.
*/
menuToggle.classList.add('button');
/*
To help associate our menuToggle with other elements for ACCESSIBILITY, purposes, we use the setAttribute(...) method to add an ID to our menuToggle.
*/
menuToggle.setAttribute('id', 'menu-toggle');
/*
Unlike our use of methods, which requires an argument - i.e. querySelector(argument) - below we are setting a property of the menuToggle object. In this case, the innerHTML property is the HTML that appears within the <button> element we have created. We will use this to apply text to the interior of our button.
*/
menuToggle.innerHTML = 'Menu ▼';
/*
We are again using the setAttribute(...) method to add the following attributes to our menuToggle to help ACCESSIBILITY:
- 'aria-label' which defines a label for our dropdown's functionality for screen-readers
- 'aria-controls' which defines what our button controls, using an ID to link to another element in the DOM
- 'aria-expanded' which indicates if the element it controls has been expanded or not
*/
menuToggle.setAttribute('aria-label', 'Main menu');
menuToggle.setAttribute('aria-controls', 'menu'); // Note this connects to an ID
menuToggle.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'false');
/*
The insertBefore(...) method allows us to inject an element into the page before a specific child element. In this case the arguments it expects are as follows:
parent.insertBefore(elementToInsert, childToInsertBefore);
So in the example before, what we are specifying is that within the <header> element, we want to inject our new menuToggle (<button> element) before the menu (<nav id="menu"> element) appears.
*/
header.insertBefore(menuToggle, menu);
// PART 4: ACTING ON CLICKS
/*
In JavaScript we can tie 'event listeners' - different kind of in-browser events like clicks, scrolls, resizes, and more - to our objects to have them act when a user interacts with the page. In the case below we are adding a listener to our menuToggle (<button> element) which listens to when the user has clicked on the element.
*/
menuToggle.addEventListener('click',
function() {
/*
To make sure that our button works when clicked on, it is a good idea to make use of the console.
*/
console.log('menuToggle has been clicked.');
/*
Because we do not know for sure if the navigation items are showing (or not) when a user clicks on the button, we should test and act on both conditions. The if/else statement below checks if our menu has a class of 'hidden' using the 'classList.contains(...)' method and acts accordingly.
*/
if ( menu.classList.contains('hidden') ) {
console.log('Menu is hidden, showing the menu.');
/*
We want to remove the 'hidden' class to ensure that the navigation items become visible.
*/
menu.classList.remove('hidden');
/*
Now that we have shown the menu visually, we also should make sure that screen readers understand that the menu is visible for ACCESSIBILITY purposes:
- 'aria-hidden'; allows us to now make the element visible to screen readers
- 'aria-expanded'; allows us to indicate that the dropdown has now been expanded
*/
menu.setAttribute('aria-hidden', 'false');
menuToggle.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'true');
/*
If we want the text of the button being clicked on to change when we click on it - in this case to show the different states of the menus - we can use the innerHTML method again to do so.
The 'this' is a bit more complex. In the case here, 'this' is referring to the object which is running this method, which means the menuToggle running the eventListener is what 'this' is referring to. Much more detail on this can be found at https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS/blob/1st-ed/this%20%26%20object%20prototypes/ch1.md
*/
this.innerHTML = 'Menu ▲';
}
/*
(Else) if the navigation items are already showing...
*/
else {
console.log('Menu is shown, hiding the menu.');
/*
We want to remove add 'hidden' class to ensure that the navigation items are hidden.
*/
menu.classList.add('hidden');
/*
Now that we have hidden the menu visually, we also should make sure that screen readers understand that the menu is hidden for ACCESSIBILITY purposes:
- 'aria-hidden'; allows us to now hide the element to screen readers
- 'aria-expanded'; allows us to indicate that the dropdown has been collapsed
*/
menu.setAttribute('aria-hidden', 'true');
menuToggle.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'false');
/*
Similar to our earlier example, we are changing the text of our button when we click on it to indicate the two different states.
*/
this.innerHTML = 'Menu ▼';
}
}
);
Also see: Tab Triggers