Issue Summary

Tab navigation has incorrect focus handling.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open the Jira Cloud homepage.
2. Using a keyboard and screen reader, navigate to the "Search" field.
3. Press the Tab key to move focus to the tab list.
4. Press the Right Arrow key to navigate to the next tab.
5. Observe that the focus moves to the "Search" field instead of the next tab.

Screen Recording

Focus management issue

Actual Results

When keyboard-only or screen reader users navigate to the Search field and press Tab to enter the tablist, focus initially lands on the “Jira” tab as expected. However, subsequent keyboard interactions do not follow expected ARIA tablist behavior. Pressing the Right Arrow key while focused on the “Jira” tab incorrectly moves focus back to the Search field instead of advancing to the next tab (e.g., Bitbucket, Home, Trello). Additionally, when users press Tab again to re-enter the tablist, focus does not return to the previously selected or focused tab and instead lands on a different tab (e.g., “Bitbucket”), resulting in inconsistent and unpredictable focus behavior. As a result, this breaks standard ARIA tablist interaction patterns and prevents keyboard-only and screen reader users from navigating between tabs effectively using arrow keys.

Expected Results

Keyboard navigation should follow standard accessibility behavior, allowing users to move focus and navigate between tabs using appropriate keys without unexpected focus shifts.

Apply the following changes:

• When focus is on the tablist, pressing the Left/Right Arrow keys should move focus between “All”, “Jira”, “Bitbucket”, “Home”, and “Trello” tabs within the same tablist.
• Focus should remain within the tablist when using arrow key navigation.
• The Search field should not receive focus when navigating between tabs using arrow keys.
• Focus should only move out of the tablist when the Tab key is used.

For guidance on creating an accessible tab component, refer to: Accessible Tabs Pattern

Workaround

Currently there is no known workaround for this behavior. A workaround will be added here when available

Environment

MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021)
macOS Tahoe 26.4
Operations - Windows11
Chrome - 147.0.7727.102 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Safari- Version 26.4
JAWS- Version 2023
NVDA- Version 2025.3.3
VoiceOver - Version Latest