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no-positive-tabindex

Warn on tabindex values greater than 0.

❌ Not fixable · Recommended: warn

Why​

A positive tabindex forces an element to the front of the tab order, regardless of its position in the DOM. This disrupts the natural reading flow and makes keyboard navigation unpredictable — especially as the page grows or changes.

Using tabindex="0" (adds to natural order) or tabindex="-1" (programmatic focus only) is almost always the right approach.

Examples​

❌ Incorrect​

<input tabindex="1" />
<button tabindex="5">Submit</button>
<div tabindex="99" role="button">Custom</div>

✅ Correct​

<input tabindex="0" />
<button tabindex="-1">Hidden from tab</button>
<div tabindex="0" role="button">Custom</div>
<input />

Details​

The rule checks the static value of the tabindex attribute. If the value parses to an integer greater than 0, a warning is reported.

No autofix is provided because the correct tab order depends on page layout and cannot be determined statically.

Non-numeric values and dynamic values (JSX expressions, Vue bindings, Angular bindings) are skipped.