Digital Accessibility Knowledge Base

non-Interactive-in-focus-sequence

Elements that do not have interactions should not be keyboard focuable.

Who might be affected
Screen Reader
Keyboard

Description

Non-interactive elements (like labels) should not receive keyboard focus. Either remove the flag allowing this to be focusable, or assign a role with the interaction. Users affected are those who use keyboard and switch devices, and those with motor related disabilities.

TalkBack Focus Sequence

An example application with screen reader focus sequence. All the elements with text are focusable, whether or not they have interactions.

Keyboard Focus Sequence

An example application with keyboard focus sequence. Only the elements with interactions are focusable, text and images alone are not focusable.

Quick Fixes

Ensure that significant changes to the interface (like the ones detailed above) only occur when the user actively triggers them, for example, by pressing a button or a key like Enter or Space. They must never be the result of an element simply receiving focus.

Note: Screen readers do need to be able to focus on these types of elements

Pass Patterns

If the element is supposed to be non-interactive:

XML Views (XML)

1android:focusable="false"

XML Views (Kotlin)

1element.focusable = View.NOT_FOCUSABLE

XML Views (Jetpack compose)

1// Prevent component from being focused
2    modifier = Modifier
3        .focusProperties { canFocus = false }

If the element is interactive, add a role. In this example, the Button role is being assigned

XML Views (Kotlin)

1ViewCompat.setAccessibilityDelegate(
2    element, object : AccessibilityDelegateCompat() {
3        override fun onInitializeAccessibilityNodeInfo(
4            host: View,
5            info: AccessibilityNodeInfoCompat
6        ) {
7            super.onInitializeAccessibilityNodeInfo(host, info)
8            info.className = Button::class.java.name
9          }
10    }
11)

XML Views (Jetpack compose)

1Modifier.semantics {
2    role = Role.Button
3}

How Users Are Affected

Keyboard and switch users do not receive additional information when an element receives focus, they assume that the element has some kind of interaction controls if it receives focus. If a non-interactive element receives focus, this can cause confusion and frustration for users who try to interact with the element.

If there are multiple non-interative focusable elements on the same screen, this can become problematic for users with motor or ambulatory related disabilites, as repetitive tab presses can be fatiguing.

WCAG Success criteria

This issue might cause elements to fail one or more of the following Success criteria:
2.4.3 Focus Order (A) 4.1.2 Name-Role-Value (A)