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2.4.3 Focus Order

MCS Accessibility Team

MCS Accessibility Team
Last Updated July 23, 2020

The following directions are part of a full step-by-step guide to making a HubSpot website WCAG 2.1 AA compliant. These recommendations are intended for websites managed on the HubSpot CMS but can be adapted for other content management systems.

LEVELA
Principle: Operable
User interface components and navigation must be operable.
Guideline: Navigable
Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are.

If a Web page can be navigated sequentially and the navigation sequences affect meaning or operation, focusable components receive focus in an order that preserves meaning and operability.

View Official WCAG 2.1 Compliance Techniques

Understanding 2.4.3 Focus Order

The purpose of this success criteria is to ensure that users that cannot use a mouse can still navigate your site in a logical order. When tabbing through the site, make sure your site is in a meaningful order. 

Recommended Solutions

  • Align the focus order with the reading order.
  • Place interactive elements in an order of importance. 
  • Use proper headings.
  • If your page does not need to be in a certain order you do not need a focus order. For example, a page of links.  

For more information, please visit the official W3C article: Understanding 2.4.3 Focus Order

Next Article: 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context)

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