UX Glossary · T
Touch target
Also: Tap target · Hit area
The area that responds to a tap, which needs to be larger than the icon inside it.
A touch target is the region that registers a tap. It is distinct from the visible control: a 16 pixel icon can and usually should have a much larger invisible hit area around it.
The numbers
WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.8 requires a minimum of 24 by 24 CSS pixels at level AA, with exceptions for inline links and controls where spacing compensates. Success criterion 2.5.5, at AAA, requires 44 by 44.
Apple’s guidance has long been around 44 points, and Google’s Material guidance around 48 density-independent pixels. Both exceed the AA minimum, which is a reasonable signal that AA is a floor rather than a target.
Why it matters more than it looks
Fitts’s Law makes the relationship explicit: acquisition time depends on target size, and the returns from enlarging a small target are steep. A finger also obscures the thing it is tapping, so precision is worse than a mouse even before considering motor impairment, movement, gloves or cold.
Spacing counts too. Two adequately sized targets directly adjacent still produce mis-taps, which is why destructive actions should never sit beside their common neighbour.
In practice
Design the hit area separately from the icon. Padding on the interactive element is usually all it takes, and it costs nothing visually.