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Define each control’s normal, hover, and selected appearance in CSS, then use JavaScript to toggle a class when it is clicked. If the control also opens a menu, update the visual class and the panel’s open state together. For a new implementation, use a <button> for an action and register its click handler with addEventListener() rather than putting onclick in the HTML.

What “image toggle on click” means

The May 2010 SitePoint question described two links that each needed an off, hover, and clicked appearance, while also expanding a matching menu. A forum participant recommended separating appearance from behavior: define the visual styles in CSS and toggle an active class when the user clicks a link. Read the original SitePoint discussion.

You usually do not need JavaScript to manage the hover appearance. CSS can handle that state, while JavaScript records whether the control is selected or its panel is open. The panel state and selected appearance should agree: when a menu opens, the control should show its open state; when it closes, that state should be removed.

Choose an element that matches the action

If clicking only opens or closes a panel on the current page, use a button rather than an anchor without an href. A button is built for an action and supports keyboard activation. An anchor is appropriate when it navigates to a destination. See MDN’s button element reference.

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For a collapsible panel, expose its state with aria-expanded and connect the control to its panel with aria-controls. A decorative image may change the control’s appearance, but it should not replace the interactive element or its accessible name.

Build the visual states in CSS

Give the control a base style, a hover style, and a separate class for the open or selected state. The selected class persists after the pointer leaves; :hover does not.

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.menu-toggle {
  background: url("menu-off.png") center / contain no-repeat;
}

.menu-toggle:hover {
  background-image: url("menu-hover.png");
}

.menu-toggle.is-active {
  background-image: url("menu-on.png");
}

Those image filenames are examples only. The same state model works with colors, borders, icons, or other CSS. If you use a background image, keep visible text or an accessible name on the button so that the control remains understandable without the image.

Toggle the panel and selected state together

This pattern uses one button and one panel. Clicking the button toggles the panel’s hidden state, the button’s aria-expanded value, and the CSS class. It is an illustrative pattern, not a report of tested code.

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<button class="menu-toggle"
        aria-expanded="false"
        aria-controls="menu-one">
  Menu 1
</button>
<div id="menu-one" hidden>Menu content</div>
const button = document.querySelector(".menu-toggle");
const panel = document.querySelector("#menu-one");

button.addEventListener("click", () => {
  const isOpen = button.getAttribute("aria-expanded") === "true";
  const willOpen = !isOpen;

  button.setAttribute("aria-expanded", String(willOpen));
  button.classList.toggle("is-active", willOpen);
  panel.hidden = !willOpen;
});

addEventListener() keeps the behavior in JavaScript rather than embedding it in the markup. MDN documents this event-listener approach in its addEventListener reference.

Decide whether panels open independently or as an accordion

Independent panels

If users may leave several panels open, give each button its own panel and state. Each click changes only that pair. Do not use a single shared active class or panel reference if every control is meant to operate independently.

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One panel open at a time

If opening a panel must close the previous one, the click handler should close the old panel and clear its button’s aria-expanded value and active class before opening the new pair. Keep those three pieces of state synchronized. The old SitePoint example attempted to track the previously expanded panel, but its posted script also declared showHide twice; in JavaScript, the later declaration with the same name takes precedence.

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When should you swap an image instead?

For a simple icon that genuinely changes artwork, swapping an image source is possible. For a control with several visual states, CSS classes are usually easier to maintain: the interaction code changes a state, and CSS decides how that state looks. Avoid using a click-only image without button semantics, keyboard behavior, and an accessible name.

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