Recently, Adobe launched their Spectrum design system complete with an open-source implementation, Spectrum CSS. In addition to an extremely polished and well thought-out presentation, Spectrum’s focus on accessible CSS practices and quality markup is a breath of fresh air. Its use is likely to facilitate more accessible websites and applications, which is fantastic.
Spectrum the design system includes principles, pattern guidelines, content recommendations, tools and resources, and more; not dissimilar from Google’s Material Design. The Spectrum CSS project, in contrast to its design system, is a working collection of component styles that you can download from npm or explore on GitHub and apply to your own project. It’s an incredible resource to have available, particularly with its rigorous testing and attention paid to accessibility.
One outstanding question I do have is about the textarea component, which doesn’t illustrate usage with a label element and could lead developers to omit a critical piece of accessibility information. But that’s more of an issue with docs/education than a shortcoming of the library, itself. Many of the patterns I reviewed included SVG and ARIA best practices, a welcome contribution in a world of DIV soup component libraries.
According to Matt May, Head of Inclusive Design at Adobe (and my former manager for a brief moment point in time), the Spectrum project has been in the works for over 3 years. Adobe is a large company with many teams–and a robust legal department–so I imagine getting this thing ready to launch to the public with their name on it was no small task. Thanks for making this available to us, Adobe, and keep up the good work!
