Expandable sections, often called accordions, are used across websites to hide and reveal information. They are commonly used for FAQs, product details, support information, eligibility criteria and step-by-step guidance.
At first glance, they can seem like a neat way to make pages shorter and easier to scan. But they also change how people find, compare and trust information. The experience depends on whether people can predict what is inside each section, open and close sections easily, keep their place, and find the information they need without unnecessary effort.
The data suggests a clear trade-off: expandable sections can reduce visible clutter, but they can also increase effort if people have to open, search and check multiple sections to find what they need.
Expandable sections are not inherently helpful or harmful. Their value depends on whether they make information easier to find, understand and act on in real-world use.
Respondents valued accordions when they created structure. Clear headings, predictable section labels and focused content helped people scan the page and choose the information that mattered to them. For some people, including respondents who described brain fog, distraction or difficulty processing large amounts of text, this structure reduced the amount of information they had to deal with at once.
The risk appears when organisations use expandable sections to make a page look cleaner without reducing the work required from the customer. A shorter-looking page is not always a simpler page. Sometimes it just means the effort has been moved from reading to opening, closing, searching and re-checking.
The experience is shaped by several practical factors:
Several respondents with disability-related access needs described additional friction. Screen reader users may not know that a section is expandable if it is not coded or announced properly. People using magnification or larger text may lose their place when sections open, close or shift the page unexpectedly. People with tremor or motor access barriers may find the interaction itself difficult.
The usability issue is that accordions can hide the very information customers need to continue. Contact details, eligibility requirements, costs, support options and next steps should not depend on people successfully guessing which section to open. When customers miss key information, they may abandon the task, contact support, make the wrong decision, or lose trust.
“You should only hide information if users can easily guess what is behind the button.”
“If the information you need is contained in the expanded section, as often it’s not. If there is an option to search to find info that might be contained in these sections.”
“They usually help me find information much more efficiently due to my brain fog. I can scan each subsection and it reduces the amount of information I need to scan.”
"The thing I find hardest is the screen scrolling when you open and close them. Sometimes opening one, closes another, and you have to figure out where your information has gone on the screen."
“If the expandable sections are buttons or headings that VoiceOver can easily identify, and that I can open, that’s a good thing.”
“It helps if they use standard elements such as buttons. Often, screen reader users have no idea something is expandable.”
“Positive is less words on page makes an easy read, but also easy to miss important information.”
“Sometimes with the expandable sections the Control F finder doesn’t always search those areas.”
This survey suggests that organisations do need to be more deliberate about what they hide, why they hide it, and whether consumers can still find what they need.
Use accordions when they genuinely help people:
Be much more cautious when the hidden content includes:
The biggest practical test is whether the heading does enough work. People should be able to predict what sits inside a section before opening it. They should also be able to identify, open, close, search and navigate sections using the devices, settings and assistive technologies they already rely on.
Reducing visible clutter is only useful if it also reduces customer effort. A cleaner page is not a better page if people have to open every drawer to find the thing they came for.