Okuzeka
UX/UI Design vocabulary · Accessibility

Keyboard navigation

Meaning in UX/UI design, with examples

nounCommon term

In UX/UI design, keyboard navigation means: Moving through and using an interface with the keyboard alone, mainly with the Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Space and arrow keys, without a mouse.

In Turkish: klavyeyle gezinme, klavye navigasyonu

How it is used

Essential for people who cannot use a mouse, and used by many screen reader users and power users. Designers specify a logical focus order and make sure menus, modals and custom components work without a mouse.

Example sentences

  1. With keyboard navigation, you can't get out of the date picker once you're in it.

  2. Test keyboard navigation on the sign-up form before the release.

Common collocations

  • support keyboard navigation
  • keyboard navigation test
  • logical focus order
  • keyboard trap
  • focus stateThe visible style, usually an outline or ring, that shows which element is currently selected when someone moves through a page with a keyboard.
  • screen readerSoftware that reads the content of a screen aloud or sends it to a braille display, used mainly by blind and low-vision people to use computers and phones.
  • accessibilityThe practice of designing products that people with disabilities, such as low vision, blindness, deafness or limited movement, can perceive, understand and use.
  • modalA window that opens on top of the current screen and blocks the rest of the page until the user responds to it or closes it.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Accessibility

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: