Make tabs keyboard navigable

Incorrectly implemented tabs trap keyboard users or leave screen reader users unable to understand the relationship between tabs and their content.

Quick Reference

• Use tablist, tab, and tabpanel roles
• Only one tab in the tab order at a time (roving tabindex)
• Arrow keys navigate between tabs, Tab moves to panel
• Connect tabs to panels with aria-controls/aria-labelledby

Check

Verify tabs use tablist/tab/tabpanel roles, aria-selected state, and arrow key navigation between tabs.

Fix

Implement tabs with role='tablist', role='tab', role='tabpanel', aria-selected, and proper keyboard interaction patterns.

Explain

Explain the ARIA tabs design pattern and how proper implementation ensures keyboard and screen reader accessibility.

Code Review

Review templates, server-rendered HTML, and shared components that output markup related to Make tabs keyboard navigable. Flag exact elements, attributes, and routes where the rendered HTML violates the rule.

For full implementation details, code examples, and framework-specific guidance, see references/rule.md.

Rule page: https://frontendchecklist.io/en/rules/html/tabs-accessibility