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No.174 · Navigation

Ruler Index

A vertical table of contents drawn as a ruler: long ticks for sections, short ticks between, the current section lit.

The prompt

The design brief behind this component — reuse it to regenerate, remix, or explain it.

Design an "on this page" index that looks like the edge of a ruler. Right-align a column of ticks: for each section a 28px major tick with a mono uppercase label to its left, and four short 12px minor ticks between consecutive sections at even spacing, so the whole thing reads as a graduated scale. Scrollspy: an IntersectionObserver (rootMargin −30% / −55%) picks the section in view. The active major tick lengthens 1.5×, turns frost blue with a soft glow, and its label is shown in cream; inactive labels are hidden (opacity 0, shifted 6px). Hovering the ruler reveals every label; hovering a single tick lengthens it. Clicking or pressing Enter on a tick scrolls to its section. Labels stay visible on devices without hover. All movement uses cubic-bezier(0.16,1,0.3,1) at 220–300ms. It's a real <nav aria-label="On this page"> with links and aria-current="location" on the active one.

Notes

Interaction
Scroll updates the lit tick; hover reveals labels; click/Enter jumps to the section.
Motion
Tick and label transitions 220–300ms ease-out-expo.
Accessibility
A labelled <nav> of real anchor links with aria-current=location; focus-visible ring on each tick; labels always visible without hover. Reduced motion shortens transitions.
Responsive
Fixed 10rem column; place it in a sticky sidebar.
On touch
All labels are shown when hover isn't available.

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301 components