Keyboard accessibility and focus order

To be fully accessible, a web page must be operable using only a keyboard, which matters for screen reader users, people who have trouble operating a pointing device such as a mouse or trackball, and anyone who prefers keyboard input. Focusable elements should have interactive semantics: if an element can receive keyboard focus, the user should be able to do something with it and produce a change, such as activating a link or changing an option. Most interactive elements are focusable by default; adding tabindex="0" makes another element focusable in the default focus order, but only do so when you have also made it interactive, for example by defining appropriate keyboard event handlers. Avoid tabindex values greater than zero: a positive value pulls the element ahead of the default order, which follows the HTML document, creating confusion for keyboard-only users when the focus order differs from the logical order of the page — structure the HTML so focusable elements are already in a logical order instead. Scope: Web accessibility. Reviewed October 4, 2026.