Elements with positive tabindex — the fix
One or more elements have a tabindex value greater than 0, which overrides the natural tab order and creates a confusing keyboard navigation experience.
Where this fits: accessibility in SEO
Accessibility overlaps heavily with SEO because both depend on machine-readable structure: alt text, heading hierarchy, labels, contrast. Screen readers and search crawlers consume the same signals. Accessible sites rank better not by special treatment but because the same fixes — descriptive alt attributes, proper headings, real link text — are exactly what search engines parse for meaning. It is also, in a growing number of jurisdictions, the law.
Why elements with positive tabindex hurts your rankings
Positive tabindex values force elements to appear first in the tab order regardless of their position in the DOM. This creates a disjointed navigation experience where focus jumps unpredictably around the page, confusing keyboard users and screen reader users who expect a logical, document-order tab sequence.
This is a medium-severity issue: individually modest, but it compounds — dozens of medium issues across hundreds of pages add up to a real quality deficit in how search engines assess the site.
How to fix it
Replace positive tabindex values with tabindex='0' (to add to natural tab order) or tabindex='-1' (to make focusable only via JavaScript). Ensure the DOM order matches the intended tab order.
<!-- Before -->
<button tabindex="5">Submit</button>
<!-- After -->
<button tabindex="0">Submit</button>Accessibility best practices
- Give every informative image an alt attribute that describes its content; decorative images get alt="".
- Maintain heading hierarchy — never skip levels for styling reasons.
- Make link text meaningful out of context; screen readers list links in isolation.
- Keep text contrast at WCAG AA (4.5:1) minimum.
- Make everything keyboard-operable with a visible focus state.
The full library: SEO best practices, by category.
Frequently asked questions
What does "Elements with positive tabindex" mean?
One or more elements have a tabindex value greater than 0, which overrides the natural tab order and creates a confusing keyboard navigation experience.
Why does elements with positive tabindex matter for SEO?
Positive tabindex values force elements to appear first in the tab order regardless of their position in the DOM. This creates a disjointed navigation experience where focus jumps unpredictably around the page, confusing keyboard users and screen reader users who expect a logical, document-order tab sequence.
How do I fix elements with positive tabindex?
Replace positive tabindex values with tabindex='0' (to add to natural tab order) or tabindex='-1' (to make focusable only via JavaScript). Ensure the DOM order matches the intended tab order.
How serious is this issue?
This is a medium-severity issue: individually modest, but it compounds — dozens of medium issues across hundreds of pages add up to a real quality deficit in how search engines assess the site. It belongs to the accessibility family of checks.
How do I find every page affected by this on my site?
Run a free Dr Urls audit: it crawls your site, detects elements with positive tabindex on every affected page, shows example URLs, and generates a ready-to-use fix task. Re-scan after fixing to verify the issue is gone.
Does your site have this issue?
A free Dr Urls audit crawls your site, finds every page affected by elements with positive tabindex, and hands you a ready-made fix task.
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