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Changelog

Source: NEWS.md

shinyGovstyle (development version)

Breaking changes

New features

  • New gov_page() function, a GOV.UK-flavoured wrapper around bslib::page_fluid(). It sets <html lang="en"> by default (screen readers use this to choose the right pronunciation and voice), adds a description argument for the page’s <meta name="description"> tag, and a width argument that sets a default width for every shinyGovstyle component used inside it, so you don’t have to repeat width = on each one — a component that sets its own width always overrides the page default.
  • header(), footer(), banner(), cookieBanner(), service_navigation(), gov_main_layout() and gov_layout() gain a width argument for building wider, dashboard-style layouts: "standard" (the default, GOV.UK’s usual 960px content width), "three-quarters" (three-quarters of the viewport, never narrower than standard), "full" (edge-to-edge, with grid gutters also removed), or a CSS length (e.g. "1400px", "90vw") for a custom max-width.
  • external_link()’s add_warning argument now also accepts "icon", in addition to TRUE/FALSE. Setting add_warning = "icon" adds a small decorative arrow icon after the link text, giving sighted users a visual warning that the link opens in a new tab without repeating the “(opens in new tab)” text — useful for grouped links (see the “Grouped links” section of the “Headings and text” vignette). The icon is hidden from screen readers, which get the same hidden warning as add_warning = FALSE.
  • New update_page_title() function to update the browser tab title from server code, mirroring update_service_navigation(). Compose a title in the GOV.UK recommended format "<page> | <service>" by supplying both page_title and service_name.
  • service_navigation() gains auto_page_title and page_title_suffix arguments. With auto_page_title = TRUE (the default) the browser tab title is kept in sync with the active nav link, both for direct clicks and for programmatic navigation via update_service_navigation().
  • New service_navigation_server() wires every nav link to its tab panel in a single server-side call, eliminating the per-link observeEvent() boilerplate that multi-page apps previously needed.
  • New navigate_to() combines updateTabsetPanel() and update_service_navigation() into one call for programmatic navigation (next / back buttons, footer shortcuts, modal links). Accepts a panel argument when the nav link inputId and the tab panel value differ.
  • New update_radio_button_Input() function, the server-side companion to radio_button_Input() (mirroring shiny::updateRadioButtons()). Use it to change the selected option, choices, or label of a radio group from the server, for example to keep a cookies settings radio in sync with a cookie banner choice. See the new “Cookies and analytics” vignette.
  • insert_text() (content), panel_output() (sub_text), noti_banner() (body_txt), details() (help_text), banner() (label), warning_text() (text), and gov_summary() (info) now accept shiny tag objects (e.g. shiny::tags$b("Bold")) and shiny::tagList() values in addition to plain character strings.
  • gov_list() (list) and accordion() (descriptions) now accept shiny tag objects and shiny::tagList() values, so list items and accordion sections can contain links and other rich content. accordion() section content is no longer forced into a single paragraph, so it can hold block content such as lists or multiple paragraphs (plain-string sections are unchanged).
  • The label and hint_label / hint_input arguments of label_hint(), text_Input(), text_area_Input(), date_Input(), select_Input(), checkbox_Input(), and radio_button_Input() now consistently accept plain strings, HTML strings, shiny tag objects, and shiny::tagList() values. Previously labels accepted HTML strings but not tags, while hints accepted tags but not HTML strings.
  • banner() gains a feedback_url argument that auto-generates the standard GOV.UK phase banner feedback text (e.g. “This is a new service - your feedback (opens in new tab) will help us to improve it.”), or contact-style text if feedback_url is a mailto: link. label is now optional, but exactly one of label or feedback_url must be supplied.
  • external_link() now natively supports mailto: links: when href starts with mailto:, the “opens in new tab” attributes, text, and icon are all skipped, since a mailto link hands off to the mail client rather than opening a new tab. Existing link-text validations still apply.

Bug fixes

  • service_navigation() now syncs the browser tab title with the active page by default. Screen readers announce the title on navigation, so a static title is an accessibility issue for multi-page dashboards. This is a behaviour change — set auto_page_title = FALSE on service_navigation() to restore the previous behaviour.
  • header() no longer emits spurious deprecation warnings for main_link, secondary_link, main_alt_text, and secondary_alt_text when those arguments are not used.
  • Error messages on input components now use role="alert" so they are announced by screen readers when toggled via error_on().
  • The visually hidden “Error:” prefix on input component error messages now comes before the message text, so screen readers announce “Error: Enter your name” rather than “Enter your name Error:”. The prefix also survives error_on(error_message = ...), which previously replaced it.
  • error_on() now escapes a plain string error_message instead of sending it to the browser as raw HTML, so it renders the same way as the message baked into the component (< and & are no longer swallowed, and interpolated user content can no longer inject markup). Pass a shiny tag, shiny::tagList(), or shiny::HTML() to render markup deliberately.
  • date_Input() now renders its hint before the error message, matching the GOV.UK Design System and the other input components.
  • govReactable() table row, sort-header, and pagination highlights are now visible in Windows High Contrast / forced-colours mode.
  • details() now applies the same HTML handling to help_text as it does to label, so HTML strings render consistently across both arguments.
  • warning_text() now renders HTML strings in text consistently with other body-content components.
  • govTable() no longer errors with “evaluation nested too deeply: infinite recursion” on large tables (around 1200+ rows). It now warns when given more than 50 rows and recommends govReactable() for very large or interactive tables.
  • The radio_button_Input() client binding now correctly replaces all options when sent an options update (the previous selectors did not match the rendered markup, so option replacement silently did nothing).
  • radio_button_Input()’s client binding now correctly reads and updates the group label (update_radio_button_Input(label = ...), and Shiny’s built-in bookmarking) — the previous selector targeted the old <label for=...> markup, which no longer exists now that the label renders inside a <legend> via the shared fieldset helper.
  • govTable() now renders rows in dataframe order (row order was previously silently reversed).
  • text_area_Input()’s word-limit message is now a live region (aria-live="polite"), announced to screen readers a short pause after the user stops typing, matching the GOV.UK Design System character count component. Previously it updated visually on every keystroke but was never announced.

Minor improvements and bug fixes

  • radio_button_Input(), checkbox_Input(), and date_Input() now wrap their contents in a <fieldset> with a <legend> (previously they used a <label> inside the fieldset, which is invalid and meant screen readers did not announce the question as group context). Any hint or error message is linked to the fieldset via aria-describedby, so screen readers read the hint/error when the group receives focus. radio_button_Input(), checkbox_Input(), and date_Input() gain label_size ("s"/"m"/"l"/"xl", default "m") and heading_level (1-6, optional) arguments that control the legend size and optionally wrap it as a page heading following the GDS pattern.
  • radio_button_Input() inputs and labels are now programmatically associated via matching id/for attributes, and checkbox labels now also carry for attributes. date_Input() Day/Month/Year labels are likewise associated with their underlying inputs via for/id.
  • govTabs now includes full ARIA roles (tablist, tab, tabpanel) and attributes (aria-selected, aria-controls, aria-labelledby) so screen readers correctly identify and navigate tabs.

shinyGovstyle 0.2.0

CRAN release: 2026-04-13

Breaking changes

  • header() arguments main_text and secondary_text have been renamed to org_name and service_name respectively. The old names are deprecated and will be removed in a future version.
  • value_box() has had the redundant inputId argument removed.

New features

Minor improvements and bug fixes

  • Accordion sections now toggle by clicking anywhere in the section header, not just the title text.
  • File upload input now uses GDS-like styling.
  • footer() now supports links.
  • gov_table() now supports reactive tables, sorting, and pagination.
  • gov_table() no longer crashes when width_overwrite = NULL.
  • header() alt text validation softened from errors to warnings.
  • header() has been fixed to correctly size and align on small screens, and service_name now wraps correctly on narrow viewports.
  • Many functions now cross-reference related functions in their help files.
  • Table caption placement fixed.
  • Updated govuk-frontend CSS from v5.4.0 to v6.1.0.
  • value_box() updated to use GOV.UK tag colours.

shinyGovstyle 0.1.1

CRAN release: 2026-01-08

  • No user facing changes, moving to using snapshot testing for backlink_Input

shinyGovstyle 0.1.0

CRAN release: 2024-09-12

  • Update the css to v5.4.0 and made fixes associated with that.
  • No longer requires rem remover step to update for future changes.
  • One of the major changes in the css is a change in look and functionality for the accordion. Show / hide all works as expected now.
  • Another major change to how the radio buttons look and feel, in line with the v5.4.0 design examples.
  • Added additional functions to the run_example for ease of testing.
  • Added the contents_links() function as a helper for getting the styling and behaviour for left navigation.

shinyGovstyle 0.0.8

CRAN release: 2022-02-22

  • Update the css to v4.0.0 and made fixes associated with that.
  • One of the major changes in the css is a change in look for the accordion.
  • Added new functions gov_main_layout, gov_row, gov_box and gov_text to give better control over the layouts.
  • Added tabs as a component using the govTab command.
  • Added summary list as a component using the gov_summary command.
  • Added error summary component (error_summary) and error summary update (error_summary_update).

shinyGovstyle 0.0.7

CRAN release: 2021-11-04

  • Improved the header so that you can adjust the logo size to suit.
  • Fix some errors that appeared in the footer.
  • Fix the word count function so that you only need to enter word count limit on the text_area function. You can change the limit on word_count if needed.
  • Change the run_example to a better versions that show more ways you can you the package.
  • Change the backlink_Input to a button so that you can use server to move between panels etc.
  • Added tags through the tag_Input function plus added to the use_example.
  • Added cookie banner through the cookieBanner function.
  • Added accordion through the accordion function.
  • Added tables through the govTable function.

shinyGovstyle 0.0.6

CRAN release: 2021-10-25

  • Fix minor bugs from the issues list including data default and radio default.
  • Added units test.
  • Added an example function.
  • Added a NEWS.md file to track changes to the package.
  • Added a notification banner function.
  • Got ready for CRAN release.
  • Added output value to the documentation.