- Success Criterion 2.4.3
- Conformance level A
Failed Form Submission Sending Focus to the Wrong Field
2.4.3 — Focus Order
Scenario
Setting
A calendar app's event-creation form
What’s wrong
After a failed form submission, focus jumps to the wrong place — the last error instead of the first, or somewhere unrelated, so keyboard users fix errors out of order or hunt for them.
Example
A calendar app's event-creation form is a good example: after a failed form submission, focus jumps to the wrong place — the last error instead of the first, or somewhere unrelated, so keyboard users fix errors out of order or hunt for them.
Why it matters
Keyboard and screen-reader users who follow focus rather than the pointer. On a calendar app's event-creation form, that means they get stuck and can't reach the control.
How to test
Submit a form with multiple errors: check where focus lands — it should move to the first error (or an error summary), not the last error or somewhere unrelated.
How to fix
On failed submission, move focus to the first error (or an error summary linking to each field).
Outcome
With the fix in place on a calendar app's event-creation form, they keep track of where they are on the page.
Who is affected
Keyboard and screen-reader users who follow focus rather than the pointer.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Tab Order That Jumps Around the Page Illogically
- Dialog That Opens Far From the Button That Triggered It
- Visual Layout Order That Doesn’t Match the Keyboard Tab Order
- Modal That Opens Without Moving Keyboard Focus Into It
- Modal That Closes Without Returning Focus to Its Trigger
- Expanded Content That Never Receives Keyboard Focus