Active links

Fresh automatically enhances the accessibility of <a> elements by adding the aria-current attribute when rendering links that match the current URL. This attribute is recognized by assistive technologies and clearly indicates the current page within a set of pages.

• aria-current="page" - Added to links with an exact path match, enhancing accessibility by indicating the current page to assistive technologies.
• aria-current="true" - Added to ancestor links (e.g. /docs when the current page is /docs/intro).

As we aim to improve accessibility, we encourage the use of aria-current for styling current links where applicable.

Query parameters#

When a link’s href includes query parameters, Fresh considers them during matching. A link to /products?sort=name will only receive aria-current="page" when the current URL also has ?sort=name. If the query parameters differ, the link is treated as an ancestor instead. Links without query parameters in their href match regardless of the current URL’s query string.

Preserving custom aria-current#

If you set aria-current on an <a> element yourself, Fresh will leave it untouched. This is useful when integrating with component libraries (e.g. daisyUI tabs) that manage their own active state.

Styling with CSS#

The aria-current attribute is easily styled with CSS using attribute selectors, providing a native way to visually differentiate the active link.

static/styles.css

/* Give links pointing to the current page a green color */
a[aria-current="page"] {
  color: green;
}

/* Color all ancestor links of the current page */
a[aria-current="true"] {
  color: peachpuff;
}

Tailwindcss#

In Tailwindcss or similar CSS frameworks, you can apply styles to elements with the aria-current attribute using bracket notation in your class definitions. For Tailwindcss, use the syntax:

components/Menu.tsx

function Menu() {
  return (
    <a href="/foo" class="aria-[current]:text-green-600">
      Link to some page
    </a>
  );
}