The ComboBox control ends up being two distinct tab-able items in the rendered HTML. This causes some unexpected behavior with regards to tabbing.
1. Assuming the TabIndex attribute of the ComboBox has not been set, when a user is tabbing through the controls on the page and they encounter a ComboBox, they will first be put into the input[type=”text”] element. If they press the Tab key again, they will be taken to the button element. If they press the Tab key again, they will be taken to the next control in the tab order. From the user’s perspective, they have to press the Tab key twice to get to the next control.
2. If the TabIndex attribute of the ComboBox has been set, only the input[type=”text”] element’s tabindex attribute is set. The button element’s tabindex attribute is not set. This often causes unexpected tabbing behavior when the user is tabbing through the elements on the form (i.e. focus can go from the input element, to another element on the form, then back to the button element that is part of the ComboBox).
Desired Behavior
It would be nice if the ComboBox only occurred as one “element” in the tab order. For example, if the form’s focus was the input[type=”text”] element and the user pressed the Tab key, focus would be set on the next control on the page rather than the button element that is part of the ComboBox control.
Comments: Is there any solution for setting focus from Ajax ComboBox to next control in a single tab key press?
1. Assuming the TabIndex attribute of the ComboBox has not been set, when a user is tabbing through the controls on the page and they encounter a ComboBox, they will first be put into the input[type=”text”] element. If they press the Tab key again, they will be taken to the button element. If they press the Tab key again, they will be taken to the next control in the tab order. From the user’s perspective, they have to press the Tab key twice to get to the next control.
2. If the TabIndex attribute of the ComboBox has been set, only the input[type=”text”] element’s tabindex attribute is set. The button element’s tabindex attribute is not set. This often causes unexpected tabbing behavior when the user is tabbing through the elements on the form (i.e. focus can go from the input element, to another element on the form, then back to the button element that is part of the ComboBox).
Desired Behavior
It would be nice if the ComboBox only occurred as one “element” in the tab order. For example, if the form’s focus was the input[type=”text”] element and the user pressed the Tab key, focus would be set on the next control on the page rather than the button element that is part of the ComboBox control.
Comments: Is there any solution for setting focus from Ajax ComboBox to next control in a single tab key press?