Morningstar Design System

Search Fields

Variations Design Guidelines Code Reference Accessibility

Search Fields

  • HTML/CSS Available
  • Web Component Deprecated
  • Last Updated

    2.23.0

Search fields allow a user to type in exactly what they’re looking for.

Variations Design Guidelines Code Reference Accessibility

Variations

Primary

Use when search is a major function of a page.

Primary
Primary
HTML Web Component 
<!-- Default -->
<div class="mds-search-field " role="search">
    <input type="text" class="mds-search-field__input" aria-label="Search" placeholder="Search for Security">
    <svg class="mds-icon mds-search-field__search-icon" aria-hidden="true">
        <use xlink:href="#search--s">
        </use>
    </svg>
    <span class="mds-search-field__input-focus-outline"></span>
</div>
<!-- With Value -->
<div class="mds-search-field " role="search">
    <input type="text" class="mds-search-field__input" aria-label="Search" placeholder="Search..." value="Apple">
    <svg class="mds-icon mds-search-field__search-icon" aria-hidden="true">
        <use xlink:href="#search--s">
        </use>
    </svg>
    <button class="mds-button mds-search-field__clear-button mds-button--small mds-button--icon-only" type="button" aria-label="Clear search field">
        <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--right" aria-hidden="true">
            <use xlink:href="#remove--s">
            </use>
        </svg>
    </button>
    <span class="mds-search-field__input-focus-outline"></span>
</div>
<!-- Disabled -->
<div class="mds-search-field " role="search">
    <input type="text" class="mds-search-field__input" aria-label="Search" placeholder="Search for Security" disabled>
    <svg class="mds-icon mds-search-field__search-icon" aria-hidden="true">
        <use xlink:href="#search--s">
        </use>
    </svg>
    <span class="mds-search-field__input-focus-outline"></span>
</div>
<!-- Default -->
<mds-search-field placeholder="Search for Security"></mds-search-field>
<!-- With Value -->
<mds-search-field placeholder="Search for Security" value="Apple"></mds-search-field>
<!-- Disabled -->
<mds-search-field placeholder="Search for Security" disabled></mds-search-field>

Secondary

Use in most cases, when search is a supplemental function on a page.

Secondary
Secondary
HTML Web Component 
<!-- Default -->
<div class="mds-search-field mds-search-field--secondary" role="search">
    <input type="text" class="mds-search-field__input" aria-label="Search" placeholder="Search for Security">
    <svg class="mds-icon mds-search-field__search-icon" aria-hidden="true">
        <use xlink:href="#search--s">
        </use>
    </svg>
    <span class="mds-search-field__input-focus-outline"></span>
</div>
<!-- With Value -->
<div class="mds-search-field mds-search-field--secondary" role="search">
    <input type="text" class="mds-search-field__input" aria-label="Search" placeholder="Search..." value="Apple">
    <svg class="mds-icon mds-search-field__search-icon" aria-hidden="true">
        <use xlink:href="#search--s">
        </use>
    </svg>
    <button class="mds-button mds-search-field__clear-button mds-button--small mds-button--icon-only" type="button" aria-label="Clear search field">
        <svg class="mds-icon mds-button__icon mds-button__icon--right" aria-hidden="true">
            <use xlink:href="#remove--s">
            </use>
        </svg>
    </button>
    <span class="mds-search-field__input-focus-outline"></span>
</div>
<!-- Disabled -->
<div class="mds-search-field mds-search-field--secondary" role="search">
    <input type="text" class="mds-search-field__input" aria-label="Search" placeholder="Search for Security" disabled>
    <svg class="mds-icon mds-search-field__search-icon" aria-hidden="true">
        <use xlink:href="#search--s">
        </use>
    </svg>
    <span class="mds-search-field__input-focus-outline"></span>
</div>
<!-- Default -->
<mds-search-field variation="secondary" placeholder="Search for Security"></mds-search-field>
<!-- With Value -->
<mds-search-field variation="secondary" placeholder="Search for Security" value="Apple"></mds-search-field>
<!-- Disabled -->
<mds-search-field variation="secondary" placeholder="Search for Security" disabled></mds-search-field>

Sizing

Sizing affects search field size, text size, icon size, and internal spacing. The default size is medium, and you can use modifier classes or props to make the search field smaller or larger.

Small
Medium (Default)
Large
Touch
Small
Medium (Default)
Large
Touch
HTML Web Component 
<div class="mds-search-field mds-search-field--secondary mds-search-field--small" role="search">
    <input type="text" class="mds-search-field__input" aria-label="Search" placeholder="Search for Security">
    <svg class="mds-icon mds-search-field__search-icon" aria-hidden="true">
        <use xlink:href="#search--s">
        </use>
    </svg>
    <span class="mds-search-field__input-focus-outline"></span>
</div>
<mds-search-field variation="secondary" size="small" placeholder="Search for Security"></mds-search-field>
  • See mixin documentation for additional details on how to create media queries to switch to the touch size.

Use When

  • Searching for content in an entire app or site.
  • Searching within and filtering down a large List Group of options.
  • Searching within a more specific set of data, i.e., Morningstar Research or Morningstar Reports.

Visual Language

  • Research suggests that the width of the input field has an impact on search usability. A general rule of thumb is that the input, when active, should accommodate 27 characters.
  • Use primary search fields when search is a top-level method of navigation.
Example of a primary search field used for global search on Morningstar.com. Global search functionality on Morningstar.com.
Example of a primary search field used on Morningstar Developer. Component search functionality on Morningstar Developer.
Example of a primary search field used for global search on Morningstar Credit Ratings. Global search functionality on Morningstar Credit Ratings.
Example of a secondary search field used for searching for reports inside Direct Cloud. Searching for reports inside Direct Cloud.
Example of a secondary search field used for searching with Direct Cloud's Research Portal. Searching within Research Portal inside Direct Cloud.
Example of searching within column sets Menu inside Direct Cloud.
  • Use placeholder text to provide additional context around the data being searched. For example, “Search for Morningstar Reports”.

Behaviors

  • Enable search query to execute when a user presses Enter.
  • When a user enters text in the field, a remove icon, remove--s, allows the user to clear their entry. For live search, clicking the remove icon also clears the results of the current search.
  • In IE11, search field placeholder text is cleared on focus. This is default IE11 behavior and a known issue, teams are still encouraged to use search fields in production.

Editorial

  • Briefly describe what the user might search for in the placeholder text, if space permits. For example, “Search for ETFs, Research, and Reports”.
  • If there’s not enough space to express a complete thought, use “Search…”
  • Use “Search for” not “Search by”—reserve “by” for filtering, i.e., “Filter by sector”.
  • Use title case and don't end sentences with periods.
  • Show searched term(s) when showing results.

CSS

Class References

Class
Applies to
Outcome

mds-search-field--secondary

mds-search-field

Renders the search field using the secondary style.

mds-search-field--small

mds-search-field

Adjusts styling to render a small search field.

mds-search-field--large

mds-search-field

Adjusts styling to render a large search field.

mds-search-field--touch

mds-search-field

Adjusts styling to render a touch search field.

Mixins

Touch Properties

Use this mixin to create media queries in your product styles to switch search fields to their touch variation.

@include mds-search-field-touch-properties();

For example, switching to the touch variation on screens with a max-width of 500px:

// Your product SCSS
@media screen and (max-width: 500px) {
    @include mds-search-field-touch-properties();
}
  • The mixin includes all CSS properties required to convert any size into the touch variation, including styling to resize the search field icon. However, the mixin doesn’t update the underlying icon file used. To avoid undesirable scaling, DOM manipulation via JavaScript is required to update the search field icon. This is only an issue when switching from small or medium to touch. Consider using the web component and programmatically updating the size prop, which automatically updates the icon used.
  • Use a media query that makes the most sense for your product, in addition to max-width, pointer: coarse is another helpful method for targeting touch screen devices.
  • If you don’t want every instance to change, consider using a wrapping class around the media query to target specific elements in your product.

Web Component

Props

When setting props as attributes on a custom HTML element, use kebab-case instead of camelCase.

Prop
Type
Validation
Default
Description

additionalClass

String

—

—

A space-separated list of class names that will be appended to the default mds-search-field class.

ariaLabel

String

—

Search

Sets the aria-label for the search field.

clearIconAriaLabel

String

—

Clear search field

Sets the aria-label on the icon-only clear button.

disabled

Boolean

—

false

If true, sets the disabled attribute on the button, rendering it non-interactive, and applies disabled styling.

placeholder

String

—

Search...

Adds placeholder text.

size

String

One of: small, medium, large, touch

medium

Alters the size of the search field.

value

String

—

—

Text value for the search field. If omitted, the placeholder will be displayed by default.

variation

String

One of: primary, secondary

primary

Sets the search field variation.

Methods

Method Name
Description

clear()

Removes the value from the search field.

Usage Examples

Setting variation and size via props:

<mds-search-field variation="secondary" size="small"></mds-search-field>

Setting placeholder and value via props:

<mds-search-field placeholder="Custom Placeholder Text" value="Predefined Value"></mds-search-field>

Implementation Tips

Sticky Hover State on Touch Screens

On touch screens, :hover states “stick” after tapping an interactive element. To counter this behavior, MDS provides a mixin that resets component hover states to their default styles:

@include mds-sticky-hover-reset();

The mixin uses a media query based on hover: none to target touch screen devices and includes resets for Buttons, Checkboxes, Inputs, List Groups, Radio Buttons, Search Fields, Selects, Switches, and Textareas. You can apply this mixin within your product’s media queries along with other MDS touch styles, for example:

// Your product SCSS
@media screen and (max-width: 500px) {
    @include mds-sticky-hover-reset();
    @include mds-componentName-touch-properties();

    // The rest of your product’s responsive/touch styles...
}

Implementation

  • Use the aria-label attribute to define the text that assistive technology uses to describe the search field element. By default it is set to “Search”.

Best Practices

  • Search fields should always use role="search".