Our library website is currently being redesigned to be responsive.  The
work is being done by an outside design firm and the project is being
managed by University Relations, our school's PR department.

The mobile version of our responsive site has several accordion menus
(similar to attached).  I've asked for these accordion menus to be
self-closing; in other words, there is never more than one expansion of an
accordion open at one time - if a user clicks to open another part of the
accordion, the first part simultaneously slides shut.

I've been told that self-closing accordions are contrary to best practices:

"Unfortunately, no, as this isn’t best practice. Accordions should require
a click each to open and close; in other words, nothing on your page should
move without a user action. This is true throughout our sites. See the
universal Quick Links in mobile."

Is it true that self-closing accordion menus run counter to best practices
in mobile web design?  The sort of behavior that I'm asking for seems, to
me, intuitive and expected.

Thanks for your input!

Kyle Breneman
Integrated Digital Services Librarian
University of Baltimore