Featured content

Featured content module

A featured content module (FCM) is a “mini story” used to highlight a specific piece of content, such as a video. FCM content is featured rather than integral to the main content of the page.

Types

Standard

There is only one type of FCM layout. When the pattern appears on a page in a language that reads right to left, such as Arabic, the layout remains the same, but the text is aligned right rather than left.

Featured content

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, ei ius adhuc inani iudico, labitur instructior ex pri. Cu pri inani constituto, cum aeque noster commodo cu.

Read more about the feature

HTML code snippet

<section class="o-featured-content-module">
    <div class="o-featured-content-module__text">
        <h2>Featured content</h2>
        <p>
            Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, ei ius adhuc inani iudico, labitur
            instructior ex pri. Cu pri inani constituto, cum aeque noster
            commodo cu.
        </p>
        <a class="a-link
                  a-link--jump">
            <span class="a-link__text">Read more about the feature</span>
        </a>
    </div>
    <div class="o-featured-content-module__visual">
        <img class="o-featured-content-module__img"
            src="https://dummyimage.com/1076x606/addc91/101820"
            alt="">
    </div>
</section>

Use cases

An FCM should call attention to a piece of content that might be new or otherwise relevant to— but not directly a part of— the main content on the page. FCM content shouldn’t be seen as integral to the page, meaning it could be changed or removed without taking away vital information the user needs or interrupting the user journey.  

You may consider using an FCM if your content is one of the following. 

  • Timely: You want to highlight a new tool or development that could be impactful to visitors. Keep in mind that, when the content becomes dated and you remove it from the FCM, you must ensure you’re not removing the only way users can navigate to it. Be sure to plan a permanent home for the content. 
  • Localized: You want to promote content that applies to people in a specific geographic area. An FCM provides emphasis and placement that will help ensure that specific audience sees the content. When the content is removed, it won’t disrupt the main user flow of the page.  
  • CFPB’s stance: You want to show how a subject fits within the CFPB’s areas of expertise and what the CFPB’s stance is on it.

Guidelines

Placement 

  • Can appear on any page type 
  • Should sit below a page’s introduction and retain that position on all screen sizes  

Content guidelines 

Heading 

  • Maximum 35 characters including spaces 

Description 

  • Maximum 160 characters including spaces 
  • Should be action-oriented and succinctly state what the item is about and how it relates to the main content of the page 

Call to action 

  • Include only one call to action. 

    • If your FCM doesn’t have a video, present one call-to-action link.  
    • If your FCM does have a video, do not present a call-to action link. The desired action is for the user to play the video, so the play button serves as a visual call-to-action.  

  • Call-to-action link guidelines 

    • Maximum 35 characters including spaces 
    • Should clearly tie to the heading and description 
    • Should begin with an action verb such as “explore,” “read,” “learn,” or “discover”  

Image guidelines 

  • 1076px width by 606px height 

    • This is a 16:9 aspect ratio and 2x the rendered width.   
    • See the behavior guidelines below regarding how the image will crop as the browser width changes.   

  • If there is a video, a 60 by 60px play button will appear in the center of the image. Make sure the image’s subject is not obscured by the play button, particularly ensuring that no faces are covered by the button.

Behavior

Large screen 

  • The image appears to the right of the content.  
  • The ratio of text and visual changes with screen size to keep the full height of the image visible. As available width dips below the maximum page width, the text area shrinks in width while the visual maintains a fixed width of 270px. That means that the height and aspect ratio of the visual will change as the screen shrinks, and the image will be cropped between 16% and 29% from each side. 

Small screen 

  • The content drops below the image.

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