DEV Community

Cover image for Mastering Web Accessibility with Tabnav: A Free Checker That Simulates Real User Interaction
Net Aharonov
Net Aharonov

Posted on

Mastering Web Accessibility with Tabnav: A Free Checker That Simulates Real User Interaction

Most accessibility tools scan your HTML and stop there.
They don’t behave like real users. They don’t tab through your page. They don’t open dialogs. They don’t navigate forms. And because of that, they miss critical issues.

Tabnav is different.
It’s a free web accessibility checker built to simulate real user interaction—especially keyboard navigation—so developers get reliable, actionable insights instead of generic warnings.

Why Tabnav?

Accessibility errors rarely live in your markup.
They show up in behavior:

  • Buttons that look clickable but aren’t reachable with a keyboard
  • Hidden elements that accidentally receive focus
  • Dialogs that trap users
  • Missing or confusing focus indicators
  • Images or icons without accessible names
  • Structure that confuses screen readers
  • Unexpected new windows
  • Form fields missing proper labels

Tabnav acts like a real user, then generates a clear report with the exact code-level issues to fix.

What Tabnav Checks (Summarized)

Content & Media

Ensures your images, icons, SVGs, background graphics, and media elements have proper accessible names and alt text.
It also checks zoom and readability to confirm content can scale up to 200% without breaking.

Keyboard & Focus

Simulates actual keyboard navigation to detect issues such as:

  • Missing focus outlines
  • Broken tab order
  • Invisible elements receiving focus
  • Skip link behavior
  • Dialog keyboard traps and missing exits
  • Predictable focus movement

These are the problems most automated tools never catch.

Page Structure

Checks whether your HTML uses meaningful headings, landmarks, and semantic roles so assistive technologies can interpret the page correctly.

Built for Developers

Tabnav explains why each issue matters and links to short educational notes from Tabnav Academy.
Every finding includes:

  • The exact element causing the issue
  • The WCAG requirement it relates to
  • How to fix it
  • Clean code examples

Try Tabnav for Free

You can run a full accessibility scan in seconds—no account needed.

👉 Scan your website for free with Tabnav

We’d love to hear your feedback.

Top comments (0)