Recently, someone posted on LinkedIn that skip links are often broken because their target elements are missing a `tabindex` attribute. I was really surprised to see that because I thought that was an issue of the past. That's why I decided to test it.
https://matuzo.at/blog/2026/skip-links-tabindex?d=0503
Update: Thanks for the feedback. I've added more tests and updated the title.
@matuzo FWIW, when I last tested this in early 2025: there was a lingering issue with iOS Safari.
If the target was overlapped by another element (e.g. a sticky header), the skip links didn't work properly without tabindex on the target. And when I say "overlapped," I don't necessarily mean to the degree that the target was obscured.
I tend to still add the tabindex because why not? And also because I'm getting old.
@jscholes
I find `tabindex="-1"` is still needed on the skip link target.
Testing with VoiceOver on macOS 15.7.4+Safari 26.3
- Focus and virtual cursor is on "Skip to content" link.
- Press Enter to activate link
- Press VO+right arrow to move the virtual cursor to next element
If the skip link target doesn't have `tabindex="-1"`, the virtual cursor moves to the next element after the skip link. If the target does have `tabindex="-1"`, to moves to the next element after/within the targeted element, the intended behavior.
If I use VO+Space to activate the skip link instead of Enter, the tabindex isn't needed to work as intended. Even if that's the more common way to activate a link with VoiceOver on, the intended behavior should still be supported when Enter is pressed.
@cwilcox808 @matuzo Good data! Thanks for testing.
In general, VO has quite a few small bugs in the synchronisation between its own cursor and the system focus. Especially when the latter is set programmatically by the page itself.
Manuel Matuzović
James Scholes
Curtis Wilcox