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Components

Select

Use: Best practice English, Spanish USWDS v3
A select component allows users to choose one option from a menu.

Examples

Default

View va-select default in Storybook

Required

View va-select required in Storybook

Hint text

View va-select with hint text in Storybook

Read only

View va-select inert, or read only in Storybook

Error

View va-select error message in Storybook

Dynamic options

View va-select dynamic options in Storybook

Internationalization

View va-select internationalization in Storybook

Widths

View va-select widths in Storybook

Usage

Additional guidance for VA

Choosing the right component for the task

Consider how many options the user will have when choosing the right component. The number of options will determine which component is right for the task.

  • 2 - 5: Radio Buttons. Use radio buttons when there are only a few options that can all be exposed at once.
  • 6 - 15: Select. Use a select for a limited number of options.
  • 16 - 100: Combo Box. For over 15 items, use a combo box that combines a select with typeahead.
  • 101 - ∞: Search Input typeahead. Over 100 items, use the search input component with typeahead.

Some exceptions when choosing the right component

Some exceptions can be considered when choosing the right component.

  • When the options are known and memorable. Use the combo box when the user will know what to expect as options in the dropdown. Some examples of this would be a list of countries or states. See the USWDS address pattern for an example.
  • When the radio button labels are long or radio tiles contain descriptive text. Using long labels within a dropdown might create an issue where the information needed to make a selection is lost. There’s also descriptive text added within radio tiles that can’t be used in a dropdown. In those use cases a radio button might be required instead of a dropdown opton.

These are some things to consider when choosing between different components. Contact the Design System team for help if you have other use cases that are considered exceptions.

Errors

Hint text

Code usage

Attributes and Properties

Property Attribute Type Default Description enableAnalytics enable-analytics boolean false Whether or not to fire the analytics events error error string Error message to display. When defined, this indicates an error. formHeading form-heading string The content of the heading if `useFormsPattern` is true. formHeadingLevel form-heading-level number 3 The heading level for the heading if `useFormsPattern` is true. fullWidth full-width boolean false If true, sets the select to take the full-width of its container hint hint string Optional hint text. invalid invalid boolean false Whether or not `aria-invalid` will be set on the inner select. Useful when composing the component into something larger, like a date component. label label string Text label for the field. messageAriaDescribedby message-aria-describedby string An optional message that will be read by screen readers when the select is focused. name name string Name attribute for the select field. reflectInputError reflect-input-error boolean false Whether or not to add usa-input--error as class if error message is outside of component required required boolean false Whether or not this is a required field. showError show-error boolean true Whether an error message should be shown - set to false when this component is used inside va-date or va-memorable-date in which the error for the va-select will be rendered outside of va-select useFormsPattern use-forms-pattern string Enabling this will add a heading and description for integrating into the forms pattern. Accepts `single` or `multiple` to indicate if the form is a single input or will have multiple inputs value value string Selected value (will get updated on select). width width string Displays the select at a specific width. Accepts 2xs (4ex), xs (7ex), sm or small (10ex), md or medium (20ex), lg (30ex), xl (40ex), and 2xl (50ex). Defined in USWDS here: https://github.com/uswds/uswds/blob/develop/packages/uswds-core/src/styles/tokens/units/input-widths.scss

Events

Name Description component-library-analytics The event used to track usage of the component. This is emitted when an option is selected and enableAnalytics is true. vaKeyDown The event attached to select's onkeydown vaSelect The event emitted when the selected value changes vaSelectBlur The event emitted when the select element is blurred

Native Events

  • The native onKeyDown event is available on this component. It can be used by adding the event handler to your component and it will then listen to the event and respond accordingly when the event fires.

Accessibility considerations

Component checklist

Maturity

Guidance
Examples, usage, code usage, content considerations, and accessibility considerations are all complete.
Research
VFS team conducted research on this component which is linked from this page.
Stability
Component has been in production for more than 3 months with no significant issues found.
Adoption
Multiple teams have adopted this component.

Accessibility

While this component has been previously tested against older criteria, it has not yet been audited with the updated testing criteria.

Code assets

Variations
Storybook includes all variations (style, size, orientation, optional iconography, selection, error state, etc.)
Responsive
Component depicted in all responsive breakpoints.
Interactive states
Includes all interactive states that are applicable (hover, active, focus, keyboard focus, disabled).
Tokens
All design attributes (color, typography, layout, etc.) are available as tokens.
Internationalization
Describes i18n attributes.

Visual assets

Variations
Sketch library includes all variations (style, size, orientation, optional iconography, selection, error state, etc.)
Responsive
Component designed to work in all responsive breakpoints.
Interactive states
Includes all interactive states that are applicable (hover, active, focus, keyboard focus, disabled).
Tokens
All design attributes (color, typography, layout, etc.) are available as tokens.
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Last updated: Mar 21, 2025