> ASP.NET Basics > Web Page Standards, Layouts and Usability > Increasing Web Page Usability > Tab Order

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5.1 Tab Order

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When you develop a web application, you should make sure that it meets the best accessibility standards and the most user-friendly interface guidelines. For instance, if your site contains many forms where the user has to enter data, if you have developed your site so the user has to move to the next textbox using the mouse, the user has to click on every textbox on every form to move. You can overcome this hassle with the use of tab orders. With tab orders all the user has to do is press the Tab key to move to the next textbox.

When using the ASP.NET controls you can include the “TabIndex” property. This sets a Tab order to the ASP.NET control. The tab sequence is from a lowest to the highest index number and then starts all over again. So according to your site’s users you can set the tab order in a way they prefer more user-friendly.

Note:

  • Even though you use Tab order you still do not have full control over the order of the sequence.
  • The browsers also include controls like the Address text box in the tab sequence.
  • When using the “TabIndex” values, name them as 5,10,15,20 and so on rather than 1,2,3,4 so if you want to insert a control in between later or even move it, you would not need to renumber the “TabIndex” property on all the controls.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - HTML Web Standards
        Chapter 1.1 - Visual Studio and Standards
        Chapter 1.2 - External XHTML validation
Chapter 2 - Creating Columns Using CSS
        Chapter 2.1 - Page Layout using <div> tags
        Chapter 2.2 - ASP.NET Document Outline
        Chapter 2.3 - Style Rules for <div> tags
Chapter 3 - Improving Web Page Performance
        Chapter 3.1 - Turning off ViewState
        Chapter 3.2 - Caching Content
                Chapter 3.2.1 - Page-Level Caching
                Chapter 3.2.2 - Cache Period
Chapter 4 - Accessibility Requirements
        Chapter 4.1 - Image Alternate Text
        Chapter 4.2 - Avoiding Table for Layouts
        Chapter 4.3 - Client-side Scripts
        Chapter 4.4 - Validating Web Accessibility
Chapter 5 - Increasing Web Page Usability
        » Chapter 5.1 - Tab Order
        Chapter 5.2 - Access Keys
        Chapter 5.3 - Default Focus and Default Buttons

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