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JSTOR Labs, as it happens, is working right now on a phone app for the US
Constitution and had the same question as you (for people to
expand/collapse articles and sections of the constitution).  Last week
when we showed this to users, some users said ³yes, self-closing² and
others wanted to keep them open.  In general, Iıd say they preferred ones
that closed as you opened others, and thatıs what we have implemented (at
least for now).  

Obviously, this is just one example, and I certainly wouldnıt claim that
our user testing was representative, but I hope itıs helpful nonetheless.

Best,
Alex
-- 
Alex Humphreys
Associate Vice President, JSTOR and Director, JSTOR Labs
2 Rector Street
18th Floor
New York, NY  10065
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@abhumphreys


On 12/18/15, 3:01 PM, "Code for Libraries on behalf of Kyle Breneman"
<[log in to unmask] on behalf of [log in to unmask]> wrote:

>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 isnıt 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