Web Development
Web Developer Guidelines
Visual Design Recommendations

Checkpoint 10.4 - Core

Tab order is logical and navigates from top to bottom, left to right

WCAG 1.0 Priority 3

WCAG Guideline 9. Design for device-independence.

Where tab order is not explicitly specified in the HTML, browsers use the order of the underlying HTML elements to establish tab order. CSS stylesheets can manipulate the visual layout of HTML elements and can disrupt the logical top to bottom, left to right tab order unless this is explicitly specified.

Requirement

Ensure the underlying HTML produces a logical tab order on the displayed page. This includes for links, form controls, and objects.

Checking Tool

  • Internet Explorer - AIS toolbar: Structure > Tabindex
  • Firefox - Web Developer's Toolbar: Information > Display Tab Index

Information Source

The original source of this information is located on the W3C web site  (www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-TECHS/#tech-tab-order)

 

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