Table of Contents
What tabindex Does and How to Use It
When to Use Positive Tabindex Values
Making Custom Components Accessible
Home Web Front-end HTML Tutorial How do I use the tabindex attribute to control the tab order of elements?

How do I use the tabindex attribute to control the tab order of elements?

Jun 24, 2025 am 12:56 AM
html tabindex

The tabindex attribute controls how elements receive focus via the Tab key, with three main values: tabindex="0" adds an element to the natural tab order, tabindex="-1" allows programmatic focus only, and tabindex="n" (positive number) sets a custom tabbing sequence. 1. Use tabindex="0" to make custom interactive elements keyboard accessible without disrupting the natural flow. 2. Avoid positive values unless absolutely necessary, as they can confuse users, especially those using screen readers. 3. Combine tabindex with ARIA roles and proper keyboard event handling to ensure full accessibility. Always test with assistive technologies to confirm usability.

If you want users to navigate your website using the Tab key in a logical, accessible way, the tabindex attribute is one of the tools you can use to control that flow. It’s especially useful when you’re working with custom interactive elements or trying to fix tabbing issues in complex layouts.

What tabindex Does and How to Use It

The tabindex attribute lets you specify whether an element should be focusable and what order it should appear in when the user navigates using the Tab key. There are three main values it can take:

  • tabindex="0": Makes the element focusable in the natural tab order (based on where it appears in the DOM).
  • tabindex="-1": Makes the element focusable only via JavaScript (like through .focus()), not through tabbing.
  • tabindex="n" (where n is a positive number): Adds the element into the tab sequence at the specified position. Elements with lower numbers come first.

For example, if you have a

acting like a button but isn’t natively focusable, adding tabindex="0" allows it to receive keyboard focus.

When to Use Positive Tabindex Values

Using positive tabindex values (like 1, 2, 3) forces the browser to follow a specific tabbing sequence regardless of the page structure. While this might seem helpful for controlling navigation flow, it's generally discouraged because it can easily confuse users — especially those relying on screen readers.

Here's why:

  • It breaks the natural reading order of the page.
  • It may conflict with how assistive technologies expect content to behave.
  • If you're not careful, some elements might get skipped entirely.

So unless you have a very specific reason — like a guided form wizard with a strict step-by-step interface — it's better to rely on HTML structure and use tabindex="0" instead.

Making Custom Components Accessible

One of the most common real-world uses of tabindex is making non-focusable elements (like <div>s or <code><span></span>s) keyboard accessible when they function as buttons, tabs, or dropdown triggers.

Let’s say you have a custom tab component:

<div class="tab" role="tab" tabindex="0">Tab 1</div>

By setting tabindex="0", users can now tab to it and activate it with Enter or Space. You’ll also need to add ARIA roles and handle keyboard events (like Enter triggering an action), but tabindex gets it into the tab flow.

Don’t forget: just because something is focusable doesn't mean it's usable. Always test with a keyboard and screen reader if possible.


That’s basically how you work with tabindex. It gives you control over focus behavior, but it's easy to misuse. Keep things simple, stick to semantic HTML when possible, and only reach for tabindex="0" when necessary.

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