- Success Criterion 2.4.3
- Conformance level A
Sticky Element Receiving Focus at the Wrong Point in the Flow
2.4.3 — Focus Order
Scenario
Setting
A project-management tool's task board
What’s wrong
Sticky elements receiving focus at wrong point relative to reading flow when operation depends on it.
Example
.field-3 { order: 1; } .field-1 { order: 3; } /* tab order scrambled by CSS */Why it matters
Keyboard and screen-reader users who follow focus rather than the pointer.
How to test
Tab through a page with a sticky element (header/sidebar): check that its tab-stop position matches its logical place in the reading flow.
How to fix
Position sticky elements in the sequence where they logically belong.
<!-- Reorder the actual DOM nodes to match the intended focus sequence -->Focus order should follow a sequence that preserves meaning, matching how the content is meant to be read.
Outcome
On a project-management tool's task board, this barrier is gone for keyboard and screen-reader users who follow focus rather than the pointer — they can finish what they came here to do.
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