Typography, buttons and forms

Work with Foundation's type scale, button variants and form layouts, and know which styles come from base element rules versus explicit classes.

The type scale and base styles

Foundation 6 no longer applies opinionated typography to bare elements the way Foundation 5 did. You opt in with classes such as h1-through-h6, or you enable the typography component and style elements yourself.

<h1 class="h3">Visual size, semantic level</h1>
<p class="lead">A larger introductory paragraph.</p>

<p class="subheader">Slightly muted supporting line.</p>
<p class="stat">4,102</p>

<ul class="no-bullet">
  <li>List without markers or padding</li>
  <li>Useful when each item contains its own layout</li>
</ul>

<ul class="menu">
  <li><a href="#">Inline menu item</a></li>
  <li><a href="#">Second item</a></li>
</ul>

<blockquote>
  We replaced our own grid with the XY grid in a week.
  <cite>Platform team, Northwind</cite>
</blockquote>

/* settings.scss — the typography decisions belong in Sass, not markup */
$global-font-size: 100%;
$global-lineheight: 1.6;
$body-font-family: 'Inter', system-ui, sans-serif;
$header-font-family: $body-font-family;
$header-font-weight: 600;
$header-styles: (
  small: ('h1': ('font-size': 30), 'h2': ('font-size': 24), 'h3': ('font-size': 20)),
  medium: ('h1': ('font-size': 40), 'h2': ('font-size': 30), 'h3': ('font-size': 24))
);
$lead-font-size: rem-calc(20);
$paragraph-margin-bottom: 1.25rem;

Buttons and button groups

<button class="button">Default</button>
<button class="button primary">Primary</button>
<button class="button secondary">Secondary</button>
<button class="button success">Success</button>
<button class="button alert">Alert</button>
<button class="button warning">Warning</button>
<button class="button hollow">Hollow</button>
<button class="button clear">Clear</button>

<button class="button tiny">Tiny</button>
<button class="button small">Small</button>
<button class="button large">Large</button>
<button class="button expanded">Full width</button>

<ul class="button-group">
  <li><button class="button">Undo</button></li>
  <li><button class="button">Redo</button></li>
  <li><button class="button" disabled>Publish</button></li>
</ul>

<div class="input-group">
  <span class="input-group-label">$</span>
  <input class="input-group-field" type="number" aria-label="Amount">
  <div class="input-group-button"><input type="submit" class="button" value="Apply"></div>
</div>

• Any element with the button class looks like a button, but only <button> and <a href> are reachable by keyboard. Never put it on a plain div.
• Colour variant classes are independent of the shape classes, so button alert hollow small is one button with four decisions.
• Foundation's default button colour is defined by $button-background and friends; changing them in settings regenerates every variant consistently.

Form layouts and states

<form class="grid-container" novalidate>
  <div class="grid-x grid-margin-x">
    <div class="cell medium-6">
      <label for="email">Email
        <span class="helper-text">We only use this for receipts.</span>
      </label>
      <input type="email" id="email" name="email" required aria-describedby="emailError">
      <p class="help-text" id="emailHint">[email protected]</p>
      <p class="form-error" id="emailError">Please enter a valid email address.</p>
    </div>

    <div class="cell medium-6">
      <label for="plan">Plan</label>
      <select id="plan" name="plan">
        <option value="">Choose a plan</option>
        <option value="team">Team</option>
      </select>
    </div>

    <div class="cell">
      <input type="checkbox" id="terms" name="terms" required>
      <label for="terms">I accept the terms</label>
      <p class="form-error">You must accept the terms to continue.</p>
    </div>

    <div class="cell">
      <button class="button" type="submit">Create account</button>
    </div>
  </div>
</form>

const form = document.querySelector('form[novalidate]');

form.addEventListener('submit', (event) => {
  event.preventDefault();
  if (!form.checkValidity()) {
    // Foundation's own helper: toggles .is-invalid-input and pops the .form-error text
    form.querySelectorAll(':invalid').forEach((field) => {
      field.classList.add('is-invalid-input');
      const error = form.querySelector(`#${field.getAttribute('aria-describedby')}`);
      if (error) error.classList.add('is-visible');
    });
    form.querySelector(':invalid')?.focus();
    return;
  }
  // server round-trip, then clear the states on success
});

FAQ

Related

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Last refreshed 2026-09-18.