Badge

Use badges to alert users to unread information. Badges can include a number count.

When to use

Badges can be placed:

on the edge of an icon
on a card

Badges help to notify users about unread information that needs their attention. This could include new messages or new documents.

How to use

Badges should be dynamic and temporary. After users have viewed the relevant information, badges should either:

disappear
remain if there are still unread items (but with an adjusted number count, if one is used)

There are different size and colour variations of badges.

Large badges

Large badges always include a number count. This tells users how many items need their attention.

Open this example in a new window

<p class="nhsapp-badge">
  <span class="nhsuk-u-visually-hidden">You have</span>
3
<span class="nhsuk-u-visually-hidden">notifications</span>
</p>


{% from "nhsapp/components/badge/large/macro.njk" import nhsappBadgeLarge %}

{{ nhsappBadgeLarge({
  count: 3,
  label: 'notifications'
}) }}

To use the component in your design, add the NHS App Figma library to your working files, and navigate using the components tab.

View component in Figma

To use the component in your Vue application, install the NHS App Vue Component Library and import the component.

View component in Vue

Above the count of 9, large badges always display 9+. This allows the width of the badge to be restricted to two characters.

Open this example in a new window

<p class="nhsapp-badge">
  <span class="nhsuk-u-visually-hidden">You have</span>
9+
<span class="nhsuk-u-visually-hidden">notifications</span>
</p>


{% from "nhsapp/components/badge/large/macro.njk" import nhsappBadgeLarge %}

{{ nhsappBadgeLarge({
  count: 10,
  label: 'notifications'
}) }}

To use the component in your design, add the NHS App Figma library to your working files, and navigate using the components tab.

View component in Figma

To use the component in your Vue application, install the NHS App Vue Component Library and import the component.

View component in Vue

Small badges

Small badges are simple circles. They can be placed:

on the edge of icons, such as on the bottom navigation
on cards, alongside text, such as “Document attached” on appointment cards

Open this example in a new window

<span class="nhsapp-badge-small nhsapp-badge-small--red nhsuk-body-m">
  <span class="nhsapp-badge-small__indicator" aria-hidden="true"></span>
  <span class="nhsuk-u-visually-hidden">New</span>
  <span>Document attached</span>
</span>


{% from "nhsapp/components/badge/small/macro.njk" import nhsappBadgeSmall %}

{{ nhsappBadgeSmall({
label: 'New',
color: 'red',
text: 'Document attached',
classes: 'nhsuk-body-m'
}) }}

To use the component in your design, add the NHS App Figma library to your working files, and navigate using the components tab.

View component in Figma

To use the component in your Vue application, install the NHS App Vue Component Library and import the component.

View component in Vue

The colour of small badges can be:

red for important notifications that needs to stand out on a page
blue for secondary notifications that can afford to be less prominent

For example, users will see a red badge on the bottom navigation to indicate unread messages.

When they then navigate to their messages inbox to view those messages, unread message headings are indicated by blue badges.

Open this example in a new window

HTML
Nunjucks

<ul class="nhsapp-cards nhsapp-cards--stacked">
  <li class="nhsapp-card">
    <div class="nhsapp-card__container nhsuk-u-margin-left-6">
      <div class="nhsapp-card__content">
        <div class="nhsapp-card__above">
          <p
            aria-hidden="true"
            class="nhsuk-u-font-weight-bold nhsuk-u-margin-bottom-0"
          >
            1:02pm
          </p>
        </div>
        <a href="#" class="nhsapp-card__link nhsuk-link--no-visited-state">
          <span class="nhsapp-badge-small nhsapp-badge-small--absolute">
            <span
              class="nhsapp-badge-small__indicator"
              aria-hidden="true"
            ></span>
            <span class="nhsuk-u-visually-hidden">Unread message</span> </span
          >Portland Street Great Westood Surgery
          <span class="nhsuk-u-visually-hidden">received today at 1:02pm</span>
        </a>
        <div class="nhsapp-card__below">
          <p class="nhsuk-u-margin-top-2 nhsapp-u-truncate-two-lines">
            Patient survey reminder. The Patient feedback survey is about to
            close. Have your say about Portland Street Great Westood Surgery by
            providing us with your thoughts.
          </p>
        </div>
      </div>
      <svg
        class="nhsapp-icon"
        xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
        height="2em"
        width="2em"
        viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      >
        <path
          d="M8.82 19.11a.97.97 0 0 1-.72-.31.996.996 0 0 1 .03-1.41l5.61-5.38-5.6-5.25c-.4-.38-.42-1.01-.05-1.41.38-.4 1.01-.42 1.41-.05l6.37 5.97c.2.19.31.45.32.72s-.11.54-.31.73l-6.37 6.11c-.19.19-.44.28-.69.28Z"
        />
      </svg>
    </div>
  </li>
  <li class="nhsapp-card">
    <div class="nhsapp-card__container nhsuk-u-margin-left-6">
      <div class="nhsapp-card__content">
        <div class="nhsapp-card__above">
          <p aria-hidden="true" class="nhsuk-u-margin-bottom-0">15 Mar 2024</p>
        </div>
        <a href="#" class="nhsapp-card__link nhsuk-link--no-visited-state">
          Range surgery
          <span class="nhsuk-u-visually-hidden"
            >received on 15 March 2024 at 9:00am</span
          >
        </a>
        <div class="nhsapp-card__below">
          <p
            class="nhsuk-u-margin-top-2 nhsapp-u-truncate-two-lines nhsuk-u-secondary-text-color"
          >
            Reminder of your telephone appointment with your GP on Friday 23
            October at 1:30pm.
          </p>
        </div>
      </div>
      <svg
        class="nhsapp-icon"
        xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
        height="2em"
        width="2em"
        viewBox="0 0 24 24"
      >
        <path
          d="M8.82 19.11a.97.97 0 0 1-.72-.31.996.996 0 0 1 .03-1.41l5.61-5.38-5.6-5.25c-.4-.38-.42-1.01-.05-1.41.38-.4 1.01-.42 1.41-.05l6.37 5.97c.2.19.31.45.32.72s-.11.54-.31.73l-6.37 6.11c-.19.19-.44.28-.69.28Z"
        />
      </svg>
    </div>
  </li>
</ul>


<ul class="nhsapp-cards nhsapp-cards--stacked">
  <li class="nhsapp-card">
    <div class="nhsapp-card__container nhsuk-u-margin-left-6">
      <div class="nhsapp-card__content">
        <div class="nhsapp-card__above">
          <p aria-hidden="true" class="nhsuk-u-font-weight-bold nhsuk-u-margin-bottom-0">1:02pm</p>
        </div>
        <a href="#" class="nhsapp-card__link nhsuk-link--no-visited-state">
          <span class="nhsapp-badge-small nhsapp-badge-small--absolute">
            <span class="nhsapp-badge-small__indicator" aria-hidden="true"></span>
            <span class="nhsuk-u-visually-hidden">Unread message</span>
          </span>Portland Street Great Westood Surgery
          <span class="nhsuk-u-visually-hidden">received today at 1:02pm</span>
        </a>
        <div class="nhsapp-card__below">
          <p class="nhsuk-u-margin-top-2 nhsapp-u-truncate-two-lines">Patient survey reminder. The Patient feedback survey is about to close. Have your say about Portland Street Great Westood Surgery by providing us with your thoughts.</p>
        </div>
      </div>
      <svg class="nhsapp-icon" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" height="2em" width="2em" viewBox="0 0 24 24" > <path d="M8.82 19.11a.97.97 0 0 1-.72-.31.996.996 0 0 1 .03-1.41l5.61-5.38-5.6-5.25c-.4-.38-.42-1.01-.05-1.41.38-.4 1.01-.42 1.41-.05l6.37 5.97c.2.19.31.45.32.72s-.11.54-.31.73l-6.37 6.11c-.19.19-.44.28-.69.28Z" /> </svg> 
    </div>
  </li>
  <li class="nhsapp-card">
    <div class="nhsapp-card__container nhsuk-u-margin-left-6">
      <div class="nhsapp-card__content">
        <div class="nhsapp-card__above">
          <p aria-hidden="true" class="nhsuk-u-margin-bottom-0">15 Mar 2024</p>
        </div>
        <a href="#" class="nhsapp-card__link nhsuk-link--no-visited-state">
          Range surgery
          <span class="nhsuk-u-visually-hidden">received on 15 March 2024 at 9:00am</span>
        </a>
        <div class="nhsapp-card__below">
          <p class="nhsuk-u-margin-top-2 nhsapp-u-truncate-two-lines nhsuk-u-secondary-text-color">Reminder of your telephone appointment with your GP on Friday 23 October at 1:30pm.</p>
        </div>
      </div>
      <svg class="nhsapp-icon" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" height="2em" width="2em" viewBox="0 0 24 24" > <path d="M8.82 19.11a.97.97 0 0 1-.72-.31.996.996 0 0 1 .03-1.41l5.61-5.38-5.6-5.25c-.4-.38-.42-1.01-.05-1.41.38-.4 1.01-.42 1.41-.05l6.37 5.97c.2.19.31.45.32.72s-.11.54-.31.73l-6.37 6.11c-.19.19-.44.28-.69.28Z" /> </svg> 
    </div>
  </li>
</ul>

Accessibility

Badges are designed to stand out when placed over icons and cards. The contrast ratio is 3:1, meeting WCAG 2.2. Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA).

We use visually hidden text to convey badges to screen reader users. Large badges announce the number count up to 9. They announce "nine plus" after that to match the visual display of 9+.

Small badges could announce "New notification", "Important" or "You have unread messages" depending on the context.

Help improve this component

If you have used or researched this component, please let us know what you found so we can make it better for everyone.

Discuss 'Badge' on GitHub where you can share anything you think might be useful.

You can also share feedback with us on Slack.