v154 · scroll-marker-group · keyboard contract

Focus-order journal

The two modes differ most where you cannot see it: the keyboard. links mode makes every marker a sequential tab stop; tabs mode gives the group one tab stop and moves between markers with arrow keys. The journal below records real focus traffic — press Tab and the arrow keys through both carousels and compare what your browser actually does against the spec's table.

Walk the markers

scroll-marker-group: after tabs

Slide alpha — in tabs mode this slide is a tabpanel.
Slide beta — only the active marker is a tab stop.
Slide gamma — arrow keys rove between the markers.

Focus & key journal

  1. Nothing recorded yet. Click “Start a keyboard walk”, then press Tab and the arrow keys.

What script can and cannot see. When a ::scroll-marker pseudo-element holds focus, document.activeElement reports its originating element — the journal labels those entries marker-of(…). The role each marker exposes (link vs tab) is not observable from JavaScript at all; verify it in the DevTools accessibility panel or a screen reader. That is why this page journals focus and keys, and does not claim to probe roles.

the spec's keyboard table

What §3.1.6 promises for each mode
actionlinkstabs
Tab into the grouplands on the first marker; further Tabs visit every markerlands on the active marker only
Arrow keys inside the groupno special behaviourmove between markers (focusgroup)
Tab from a focused markernext marker (they are all tab stops)into the active tabpanel's content
Activate a markersequential-focus starting point moves to the target; marker loses focusfocus stays on the marker

see also