Stretched Links

Make whole HTML elements and components clickable by "stretching" a nested link with Athena's stretched link utility.

Stretched links are a screenreader-friendly alternative to wrapping entire components or chunks of content in a link for the sake of making everything clickable.

Add .stretched-link to a link to make its containing block clickable via a ::after pseudo element. In most cases, this means that an element with position: relative; that contains a link with the .stretched-link class is clickable. Please note that given how CSS position works, .stretched-link cannot be mixed with most table elements.

Multiple links and tap targets are not recommended with stretched links. However, some position and z-index styles can help should this be required.

Contents

Examples

Cards

Cards have position: relative by default in Athena, so in this case you can safely add the .stretched-link class to a link in the card without any other HTML changes.

Card with stretched link

This entire card should be clickable thanks to the stretched link below.

Go somewhere 

<div class="card" style="width: 18rem;">
    <img src="//via.placeholder.com/250x150/" class="card-img-top" alt="">
    <div class="card-block">
        <strong class="card-title d-block">Card with stretched link</strong>
        <p class="card-text">
            This entire card should be clickable thanks to the stretched link below.
        </p>
        <a href="#" class="btn btn-primary stretched-link">Go somewhere</a>
    </div>
</div>

With rows and columns

Note that columns have position: relative by default in Athena, so a stretched link included within a column will be limited to stretching within that column (assuming the link isn't additionally wrapped in another containing block).

To make an entire component containing rows/columns clickable, the column(s) containing the stretched link will need their position to be reset to static, and the desired top-most element in the component should be made the containing block (e.g. by using the .position-relative utility class.

Columns with stretched link

In this example, all content within the row is clickable because we've manually adjusted position on the outer row and inner column containing the link. 


<div class="row mt-4 position-relative">
    <div class="col-3">
        <img src="//via.placeholder.com/250x150/" class="img-fluid" alt="">
    </div>
    <div class="col-9 position-static">
        <strong class="d-block mb-2">
            <a href="#" class="stretched-link">Columns with stretched link</a>
        </strong>
        <p>
            In this example, all content within the row is clickable because we've manually adjusted <code>position</code> on the outer row and inner column containing the link.
        </p>
    </div>
</div>

Identifying the containing block

If the stretched link doesn’t seem to work, the containing block will probably be the cause. The following CSS properties will make an element the containing block:

  • A position value other than static
  • A transform or perspective value other than none
  • A will-change value of transform or perspective
  • A filter value other than none or a will-change value of filter (only works on Firefox)
Card with stretched links

Some quick example text to build on the card title and make up the bulk of the card's content.

Stretched link will not work here, because position: relative is added to the link

This stretched link will not spread because a transform is applied to the parent <p>. 


<div class="card" style="width: 18rem;">
    <img src="//via.placeholder.com/250x150/" class="card-img-top" alt="">
    <div class="card-block">
        <strong class="card-title">Card with stretched links</strong>
        <p class="card-text">
            Some quick example text to build on the card title and make up the bulk of the card's content.
        </p>
        <p class="card-text">
            <a href="#" class="stretched-link text-danger" style="position: relative;">
                Stretched link will not work here, because <code>position: relative</code> is added to the link
            </a>
        </p>
        <p class="card-text bg-faded" style="transform: rotate(0);">
            This <a href="#" class="text-warning stretched-link">stretched link</a> will not spread because a transform is applied to the parent <code><p></code>.
        </p>
    </div>
</div>