- Success Criterion 3.2.1
- Conformance level A
Tabbing to a Menu Item That Auto-Navigates to Its Page
3.2.1 — On Focus
Scenario
Setting
An e-book reader's library page
What’s wrong
Tabbing to a menu item auto-navigates to its page.
Example
<select onfocus="submitForm()">Why it matters
Keyboard and screen-reader users, and people who are easily disoriented by surprise UI changes.
How to test
Tab to a menu item and stop: if the page navigates to that item's destination automatically without pressing Enter, it fails.
How to fix
Receiving keyboard focus must cause no change — no activation, selection, navigation, popup, or focus jump.
<select onchange="updatePreview()"></select><button onclick="submitForm()">Apply</button>Simply moving focus into a control must never trigger a context change like submission or navigation.
Outcome
On an e-book reader's library page, this barrier is gone for keyboard and screen-reader users — they can finish what they came here to do.
Who is affected
Keyboard and screen-reader users, and people who are easily disoriented by surprise UI changes.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Element That Loses Focus the Instant It’s Reached
- Tabbing Into a Field That Opens a Modal Automatically
- Selecting an Option That Submits the Form Automatically
- Keyboard Focus Triggering an Unexpected Scroll Jump
- Tabbing Into a Field That Opens a Chat Widget
- Autofocus Chain That Jumps Focus From One Field to Another