Creating a tab order index for keyboard navigation in the Accessibility panel (Flash Professional only)

You can create a tab order index in the Accessibility panel for keyboard navigation. You can create a custom tab order for the following objects:

Tab focus occurs in numerical order, starting from the lowest index number. Once tab focus reaches the highest tab index, focus returns to the lowest index number.

When you move user-set tab indexed objects around in your document, or to another document, Flash retains the index attributes. You should then check for and resolve index conflicts, such as two different objects on the Stage which have the same tab index number.

Caution: If two or more objects have the same tab index in any given frame, Flash follows the order in which the objects were placed on the Stage. It is therefore recommended that you resolve all tab index conflicts to be sure the desired tab order index is achieved.

To create a tab order index:

Select the object in which to assign a tab order and do one of the following:
- Select Window > Property inspector if the inspector is not visible. In the Property inspector, click the Accessibility button.
- Select Window > Other Panels > Accessibility.
If you're providing an index for the selected object only, in the Tab Index text box, enter a positive integer (up to 65535) that reflects the order in which the selected object should receive focus.
Note: For information about creating a tab order using ActionScript, see Using ActionScript to create a tab order for accessible objects. Tab indexes created in ActionScript do not appear on Stage when the Show Tab Order option is enabled.

To view a tab order:

Select View > Show Tab Order.
Tab index numbers for individual objects appear in the upper left corner of the object.

Note: Tab order created with ActionScript code, rather than the Accessibility panel, does not appear when you enable the Show Tab Order option.