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Keyboard trap 0:50

A 50-second explainer of Keyboard trap, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.

The Keyboard trap explainer. Prefer to do it yourself? Try the interactive demo.

Try the interactive Keyboard trap demo

What this video covers

A keyboard trap is when focus enters a spot but can't exit via keyboard - a widget, embed or dialog that captures Tab, leaving keyboard or switch users stranded and unable to reach the rest of the page. For someone who can't use a mouse, it’s not an annoyance; it’s a dead end that can make the whole page unusable.

Tab into the trap and Tab again, and again - and focus just cycled inside, with the rest of the page out of reach. For a mouse user that's a shrug; for someone navigating by keyboard alone it's being stuck in a room with no handle. Pressing Escape let you out - which is exactly the escape hatch a real trap is missing.

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