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.

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

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