Focus Next Element In Tab Index

Question

I am trying to move the focus to the next element in the tab sequence based upon the current element which has focus. Thus far I have not turned up anything in my searches.

function OnFocusOut()
{
    var currentElement = $get(currentElementId); // ID set by OnFocusIn 

    currentElementId = "";
    currentElement.nextElementByTabIndex.focus();
}

Of course the nextElementByTabIndex is the key part for this to work. How do I find the next element in the tab sequence? The solution would need to be based using JScript and not something like JQuery.

Answer 1

Tabbable is a small JS package that gives you a list of all tabbable elements in tab order. So you could find your element within that list, then focus on the next list entry.

The package correctly handles the complicated edge cases mentioned in other answers (e.g., no ancestor can be display: none). And it doesn't depend on jQuery!

As of this writing (version 1.1.1), it has the caveats that it doesn't support IE8, and that browser bugs prevent it from handling contenteditable correctly.

Answer 2

I created a simple jQuery plugin which does just this. It uses the ':tabbable' selector of jQuery UI to find the next 'tabbable' element and selects it.

Example usage:

// Simulate tab key when element is clicked 
$('.myElement').bind('click', function(event){
    $.tabNext();
    return false;
});

Answer 3

Without jquery: First of all, on your tab-able elements, add class="tabable" this will let us select them later. (Do not forget the "." class selector prefix in the code below)

var lastTabIndex = 10;
function OnFocusOut()
{
    var currentElement = $get(currentElementId); // ID set by OnFOcusIn
    var curIndex = currentElement.tabIndex; //get current elements tab index
    if(curIndex == lastTabIndex) { //if we are on the last tabindex, go back to the beginning
        curIndex = 0;
    }
    var tabbables = document.querySelectorAll(".tabable"); //get all tabable elements
    for(var i=0; i<tabbables.length; i++) { //loop through each element
        if(tabbables[i].tabIndex == (curIndex+1)) { //check the tabindex to see if it's the element we want
            tabbables[i].focus(); //if it's the one we want, focus it and exit the loop
            break;
        }
    }
}

Answer 4

This is my first post on SO, so I don't have enough reputation to comment the accepted answer, but I had to modify the code to the following:

export function focusNextElement () {
  //add all elements we want to include in our selection
  const focussableElements = 
    'a:not([disabled]), button:not([disabled]), input[type=text]:not([disabled])'
  if (document.activeElement && document.activeElement.form) {
      var focussable = Array.prototype.filter.call(
        document.activeElement.form.querySelectorAll(focussableElements),
      function (element) {
          // if element has tabindex = -1, it is not focussable
          if ( element.hasAttribute('tabindex') && element.tabIndex === -1 ){
            return false
          }
          //check for visibility while always include the current activeElement 
          return (element.offsetWidth > 0 || element.offsetHeight > 0 || 
            element === document.activeElement)
      });
      console.log(focussable)
      var index = focussable.indexOf(document.activeElement);
      if(index > -1) {
         var nextElement = focussable[index + 1] || focussable[0];
         console.log(nextElement)
         nextElement.focus()
      }                    
  }
}

The changing of var to constant is non-critical. The main change is that we get rid of the selector that checks tabindex != "-1". Then later, if the element has the attribute tabindex AND it is set to "-1", we do NOT consider it focussable.

The reason I needed to change this was because when adding tabindex="-1" to an <input>, this element was still considered focussable because it matches the "input[type=text]:not([disabled])" selector. My change is equivalent to "if we are a non-disabled text input, and we have a tabIndex attribute, and the value of that attribute is -1, then we should not be considered focussable.

I believe that when the author of the accepted answer edited their answer to account for the tabIndex attribute, they did not do so correctly. Please let me know if this is not the case

Answer 5

Here is a more complete version of focusing on the next element. It follows the spec guidelines and sorts the list of elements correctly by using tabindex. Also a reverse variable is defined if you want to get the previous element.

function focusNextElement( reverse, activeElem ) {
  /*check if an element is defined or use activeElement*/
  activeElem = activeElem instanceof HTMLElement ? activeElem : document.activeElement;

  let queryString = [
      'a:not([disabled]):not([tabindex="-1"])',
      'button:not([disabled]):not([tabindex="-1"])',
      'input:not([disabled]):not([tabindex="-1"])',
      'select:not([disabled]):not([tabindex="-1"])',
      '[tabindex]:not([disabled]):not([tabindex="-1"])'
      /* add custom queries here */
    ].join(','),
    queryResult = Array.prototype.filter.call(document.querySelectorAll(queryString), elem => {
      /*check for visibility while always include the current activeElement*/
      return elem.offsetWidth > 0 || elem.offsetHeight > 0 || elem === activeElem;
    }),
    indexedList = queryResult.slice().filter(elem => {
      /* filter out all indexes not greater than 0 */
      return elem.tabIndex == 0 || elem.tabIndex == -1 ? false : true;
    }).sort((a, b) => {
      /* sort the array by index from smallest to largest */
      return a.tabIndex != 0 && b.tabIndex != 0 
        ? (a.tabIndex < b.tabIndex ? -1 : b.tabIndex < a.tabIndex ? 1 : 0) 
        : a.tabIndex != 0 ? -1 : b.tabIndex != 0 ? 1 : 0;
    }),
    focusable = [].concat(indexedList, queryResult.filter(elem => {
      /* filter out all indexes above 0 */
      return elem.tabIndex == 0 || elem.tabIndex == -1 ? true : false;
    }));

  /* if reverse is true return the previous focusable element
     if reverse is false return the next focusable element */
  return reverse ? (focusable[focusable.indexOf(activeElem) - 1] || focusable[focusable.length - 1]) 
    : (focusable[focusable.indexOf(activeElem) + 1] || focusable[0]);
}

Answer 6

Did you specify your own tabIndex values for each element you want to cycle through? if so, you can try this:

var lasTabIndex = 10; //Set this to the highest tabIndex you have
function OnFocusOut()
{
    var currentElement = $get(currentElementId); // ID set by OnFocusIn 

    var curIndex = $(currentElement).attr('tabindex'); //get the tab index of the current element
    if(curIndex == lastTabIndex) { //if we are on the last tabindex, go back to the beginning
        curIndex = 0;
    }
    $('[tabindex=' + (curIndex + 1) + ']').focus(); //set focus on the element that has a tab index one greater than the current tab index
}

You are using jquery, right?