Does content in collapsible menus negatively affect SEO or featured snippets?

[RyanD.]

We want to confirm whether content in collapsible menus negatively affects SEO and/or featured snippets on Google. We're hoping to add a menu to answer some frequently asked questions and attract featured snippets, while also creating a positive user experience/not clogging up the page.

Here is an example of the style of menu we're using now, the troubleshooting menu:

http://www.lynden.com/help/index.html

Appreciate your help!

[Expansyon]

I think you should not be affected by the SEO of the page, nor should you be penalized by Google. Google penalizes when there are many hidden links to other pages. It is considered a bad practice.

For example, years ago, people hid keywords with the background color of the web (penalized by google severely), this is detected by the different changes of the google search engine.

I hope I have helped you

[WebDaytona]

No it doesn't. Go for it.

[LoganRay]

Google has stated more than once that accordioned content will be crawled, indexed, and weighted the same as any other content on the page. This wasn't always the case, but as mobile usage grew and accordions became commonplace for good mobile UX, they pivoted their stance on this type of content. In your example, I would especially not be worried about it since the primary content of the page is in the Overview section.