Designing an A-Z navigation web component

2026-01-05 · Source: James' Coffee Blog · Field: Technology & Digital — Software Development & Engineering · Depth: Intermediate, short

Summary

Artemis, a web reader application, features an Authors page that lists subscribed websites alphabetically. To enhance navigation for long lists, a new A-Z navigation web component, named `<contact-bar>`, was developed. This component, inspired by the iOS Contacts app, provides a sticky sidebar with letters A-Z, allowing users to tap a letter to jump to the corresponding section on the page. Each alphabetical heading on the page must have an HTML ID matching its capital letter (e.g., `#A`). The component always displays all A-Z letters; if a letter lacks a corresponding heading, its link directs to the closest preceding alphabetical heading. For example, if "B" is missing, it links to "A". The component is available in a public playground and significantly improves navigation speed for extensive lists.

Key takeaway

For web developers building pages with extensive, alphabetically sorted lists, integrating an A-Z navigation component like `<contact-bar>` can significantly improve user experience. Your users will benefit from faster navigation to specific sections without relying solely on search. Consider implementing the closest-match linking logic to maintain UI predictability, even when not all alphabetical headings are present on the page.

Key insights

An A-Z web component enhances navigation for long alphabetical lists by linking to closest available headings.

Principles

• Maintain UI consistency by always displaying A-Z.
• Link to closest preceding heading if exact match is absent.

Method

Create HTML IDs for each letter heading. Generate an A-Z list in a web component. For missing headings, link to the nearest preceding alphabetical heading.

In practice

• Use `<contact-bar>` for alphabetical lists.
• Ensure headings have matching letter IDs.
• Consider touchmove event for scroll-based navigation.

Topics

• Web Components
• A-Z Navigation
• User Interface Design
• Front-end Development

Best for: Software Engineer

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by James' Coffee Blog.