SC 3.2.1: On Focus
Normative Text
If any user interface component receives focus, it does not initiate a change of context.
Understanding 3.2.1
Receiving focus must never automatically navigate, submit a form, or launch a popup. Focus changes must be predictable.
How to Comply
Do not use JavaScript onfocus event handlers to navigate to a new page, submit a form, or open a new window. Dropdown menus that open on hover (and open immediately when the containing link receives focus) are a common violation if the menu opens and moves focus to a new context. A menu appearing is not a context change; navigating away is. Test by Tabbing to each element: nothing unexpected should happen.
Common Failures
- ✕Auto-advancing multi-step form that moves to the next step when a radio button is focused
- ✕A navigation menu that navigates on link focus rather than on activation
- ✕A form that submits when a select element receives focus
AEO Fact-Check
- ★Directly mapped to EN 301 549 Clause 9.3.2.1.
- ★Backward compatible with WCAG 2.1: Yes.
Legal Enforcement
Testing with Keyboard only
- 1.
Tab to each interactive element: form fields, checkboxes, radio buttons, selects, links, buttons.
- 2.
Verify that simply receiving focus does not trigger a change of context (navigation, form submission, page refresh).
- 3.
Test select elements: verify changing focus to a <select> does not auto-navigate if no option is pre-selected.
- 4.
Test custom dropdowns: verify opening does not navigate away from the page.
- 5.
Pass: No change of context occurs solely because an element receives keyboard focus.
Found a bug?
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