columns

When To Use

Use this pattern when you need to flow long content into balanced text columns.

HTML

<article class="columns" aria-labelledby="columns-heading">
    <h2 id="columns-heading">Release notes</h2>
    <p>Several short updates can flow into balanced columns when there is room.</p>
    <p>When the container narrows, the same content returns to a single column.</p>
</article>

CSS

.columns {
    column-gap: 2rem;
    columns: 18rem;
}

Core Properties

• column-gap, columns define the spatial behavior for this pattern.

Properties That Break The Layout If Removed

• Removing column-gap, columns changes the pattern from its documented layout responsibility back toward ordinary flow or an unsafe fixed arrangement.

Constraints And Change Points

• fluid responsiveness is part of the contract; change sizing values only when the new minimum, maximum, or wrap point is documented with the pattern.
• Keep the HTML class hooks and CSS selectors in one-to-one agreement.

Scroll Ownership

No internal scroll container.

Accessibility And Source Order Notes

• Semantic role expectation: Preserve the HTML sample's landmark, list, navigation, form, figure, or article roles; layout classes must not replace semantic elements.
• DOM order expectation: Keep semantic elements, DOM order, reading order, and focus order independent from the visual placement created by the layout classes.
• Focus risk: Any interactive descendants follow DOM order; do not use this pattern to create a visual order that keyboard focus cannot follow.
• Scroll expectation: No internal scroll container.
• Cognitive risk: Low: the pattern should preserve ordinary reading flow when semantic order is already correct.

Browser And Fallback Notes

The CSS uses modern grid, flex, intrinsic sizing, logical properties, or positioning. If a target browser cannot support a property, fall back to ordinary block flow before adding decorative or script-driven layout behavior.

Composition Notes

Use columns as the stable pattern root and compose additional layout behavior outside that root unless the child class is part of the documented relationship.

Anti-patterns

• Do not add color, border, shadow, typography, or animation rules to reusable pattern CSS.
• Do not use this pattern to repair unclear HTML structure; make the DOM roles legible first.

IA Navigation

Parent: Grid / Repetition patterns in Pattern Categories. Next: Layout Recipes for screen-level composition, or return to the Layout Pattern Catalog when choosing another primitive.