Programming Native Accordion HTML Details Lists Without JavaScript

Adam Khoury Published : October 29, 2025
Last Edited : November 24, 2025
Author : Adam Khoury

Learn to develop native exclusive accordion details lists without JavaScript, and styling them to be nicer looking using CSS. Question 1: What is a "Native Accordion? It's a standard HTML details element that, when combined with the name attribute, gains mutually exclusive behavior. Question 2: Does this need JavaScript? Nope! The browser handles all the open/close logic and the grouping, making it extremely performant and accessible by default. Question 3: Why use it? It greatly simplifies FAQ pages, menus, or any list of content where you only want one section visible at a time.

<style> body { font-family: Arial; font-size: 20px; margin: 30px; } h1 { color: #2f79aa; } details[name="detailsgroup1"] { width: 500px; margin: 20px 0px; } details[name="detailsgroup1"][open] > summary { border-radius: 7px 7px 0px 0px; } details[name="detailsgroup1"] > summary { background: #EEE; border: 1px solid #c8c8c8; padding: 15px; border-radius: 7px; cursor: pointer; box-shadow: 0 4px 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); } details[name="detailsgroup1"] > summary:hover { background: #DDD; } details[name="detailsgroup1"] > div { background: #f7f5f5; border: 1px solid #d1cdcd; padding: 15px; border-radius: 0px 0px 7px 7px; box-shadow: 0 4px 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); } </style> <h1>Native Accordions Details Without JavaScript</h1> <details name="detailsgroup1"> <summary>Question 1: What is a "Native Accordion?"</summary> <div> It's a standard HTML <code>&lt;details&gt;</code> element that, when combined with the <code>name</code> attribute, gains mutually exclusive behavior. </div> </details> <details name="detailsgroup1"> <summary>Question 2: Does this need JavaScript?</summary> <div> Nope! The browser handles all the open/close logic and the grouping, making it extremely performant and accessible by default. </div> </details> <details name="detailsgroup1"> <summary>Question 3: Why use it?</summary> <div> It greatly simplifies FAQ pages, menus, or any list of content where you only want one section visible at a time. </div> </details>