Make an HTML element non-focusable

Question

Is it possible to make an HTML element non-focusable?

I understand that a list of elements that can receive focus can be defined and that a user can

Answer 1

In order to make an prevent an element from taking focus ("non-focusable"), you need to use Javascript to watch for the focus and prevent the default interaction.

In order to prevent an element from being tabbed to, use tabindex=-1 attribute.

Adding tabindex=-1 will make any element focusable, even div elements. This means when a user clicks on it, it would likely get a focus outline, depending on the browser..

You would ideally, want this:

function preventFocus(event) {
  event.preventDefault();
  if (event.relatedTarget) {
    // Revert focus back to previous blurring element
    event.relatedTarget.focus();
  } else {
    // No previous focus target, blur instead
    event.currentTarget.blur();
  }
}

/* ... */

element.setAttribute('tabindex', '-1');
element.addEventListener('focus', preventFocus);