Text introductions
The text introduction is the standard page introduction pattern used across all pages that do not have a hero or item introduction. They introduce a page, or collection of pages, with a brief description of the goals of that section.
Standard text introduction
Text introductions consist of a heading and lead paragraph. They should be used on every page, except in cases when a hero or item introduction is used.
Layout as seen with a standard right sidebar:
Specs
- Spacing: 45px margin above, 60 px margin below.
- Page title: Heading 1
- Subheader: Lead paragraph style
- Optional body paragraph and link: Avenir paragraph
- Text spans seven columns
- At breakpoints below 600: Page title and lead paragraph drop down one type size to make reading on smaller devices easier.
Variation
Breakout sidebar
On landing or sub-landing pages, the text introduction may be accompanied by a breakout sidebar to highlight a specific piece of content from the section. The optional breakout sidebar should be used when a specific piece of content needs to be highlighted that is related to, but not a continuation of, content in the introduction. The breakout sidebar may contain a related posts element or imagery. An example of it appears on the Rulemaking sub-landing page.
Layout as seen with a ‘breakout’ highlight in the right sidebar area:
Specs
- Spacing: The breakout may be taller than the Text Intro content, in which case the margin beneath the breakout should be 60px.
- Required elements: slug title and paragraph text.
- Imagery: May use either a circle (1x1) image or a 16x9 ratio image.
Guidelines
Content guidelines
Headings
Headings should be as succinct as possible, ideally staying on a single line at max column width; 35 characters or less.
- Heading should be in sentence case
- Use the word “and” instead of “&”
Lead paragraph
Lead paragraph beneath heading should also be succinct, roughly 1-3 sentences; 350 characters maximum. This paragraph should explain why the page exists (how does its content tie back to the CFPB mission?) and the value add to the user (what will they get out of the content on this page?).
Descriptive paragraph (optional)
The optional description paragraph can be anywhere between 1-5 sentences; 100-800 characters, depending on the needs of the page.
- If a breakout sidebar is being used, longer text may be appropriate to help match the text introduction length to the sidebar length
- For emphasis, a call to action last sentence can be entered as its own paragraph underneath this lead paragraph, either linked to a url or not
Call-to-action link (optional)
The optional call-to-action link should be one line; about 40 characters or less. Link content should follow link guidelines.
Behavior
Text introduction
| Above 900 px | Below 901 px |
|---|---|
| With standard grey-welled sidebar on the right | With standard grey-welled sidebar stacked to prefooter |
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Text introduction with breakout sidebar
| Above 900 px | Below 901 px |
|---|---|
| Breakout sidebar on the right | Breakout sidebar stacked immediately after text intro |
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