Keyboard Shortcuts for Navigating Tableau Dashboards
All Components
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move focus to next major component | Tab |
| Move focus to previous component, including supporting elements of major components | Shift + Tab |
| Button activation | Space or Enter |
Sheet Tabs
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move focus to next tab | ↓ or → |
| Move focus to previous tab | ↑ or ← |
| Navigate to the focused tab | Enter |
Legends
Tip: To view legend item text with more contrast, select individual legend items, and then toggle highlighting on and off.
The action of selecting items within the legend and toggling the highlighting on and off is the keyboard equivalent of the Highlight Selected Items feature available to mouse users.
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move focus to next item | ↓ |
| Move focus to previous item | ↑ |
| Move focus to next column or item | → |
| Move focus to previous column or item | ← |
| Move focus to the first item | Home |
| Move focus to the last item | End |
| Toggle item selection | Space |
| Toggle highlighting | Enter |
| Clear all item selections | Esc |
Data Highlighters
Data Highlighters are a combination of 3 elements: search edit box, Search/Clear button, and list.
Tableau search edit displays a text box where you can type a few characters. All values that match those characters are listed within the remaining results. Pattern match is not case sensitive.
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open drop-down | Space, or activate Search |
| With focus on the list, move focus to next item | ↓ |
| With focus on the list, move focus to previous item | ↑ |
Margin Navigation
Another way to bring a visual focus to a set of data that is displayed, is by using the keyboard navigation of margins. With keyboard focus on the data visualization, press Enter to navigation within the visualization. Focus will now be on the inner visualization.
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open the View Data Windows | Enter |
| Move focus to a margin | ↑ or ↓ or ← or → |
| Move focus within a margin | Enter |
| Move focus to a specific data set | ↑ or ↓ or → or ← |
| Toggle item selection | Space |
Filters
Radio or Checkbox Groups
Also referred to as single or multiple value filters.
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move focus to next item | ↓ or → |
| Move focus to previous item | ↑ or ← |
| Move focus to the first item | Home |
| Move focus to the last item | End |
| Toggle item selection | Space |
| Revert changes to default settings | Esc |
Delayed update
If enabled, Cancel and Apply buttons are positioned just below the list of choices. Both buttons become active once a change to the list selection has been made. When active, the Cancel and Apply buttons are added to the Tab and Shift + Tab order of controls on the page. Updates to the Tableau dashboard are only made after activating the Apply button. Where Enter has no effect on a radio or checkbox item, if delayed update is enabled Enter will activate the Apply button. However, Esc is not equal to Cancel. The only way to return the filter selection to the currently shown data is to activate the Cancel button.
Search
If enabled, a Search button is added as a Filter Control. With focus within the radio or checkbox group, Shift + Tab will move focus to the Filter Control buttons. Space or Enter will activate the Search button. Once activated the Search edit box will be included in the Tab and Shift + Tab order until closed, or the filter is restored to default.
Tableau filter search displays an edit box where you can type a few characters. All values that match those characters are automatically selected. You can use the asterisk character as a wildcard character. For example, you can type “tab*” to select all values that begin with the letters “tab”. Pattern match is not case sensitive.
With focus within the Search edit box:
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move to list | Tab or ↓ |
| Clear search results | Esc |
| Close search | Esc, Esc |
Drop-Down Filter
With focus on an unopened drop-down filter, Esc will restore the default state of the filter.
With the drop-down filter open, Tab and Shift + Tab are restricted to the controls within the filter. If the only actionable control within the drop-down filter is the list element, Tab and Shift + Tab will have no effect. Closing the drop-down filter will resume Tab and Shift + Tab between actionable elements within the Tableau dashboard and page.
Single Value Drop-Down Filter
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open drop-down filter | Space or Enter |
| Move focus to next item | ↓ or → |
| Move focus to previous item | ↑ or ← |
| Move focus to the first item | Home |
| Move focus to the last item | End |
| With focus on a list item, activate selection | Space or Enter |
| Close drop-down filter, without changing or making a selection | Esc |
Multiple Value Drop-Down Filter
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open drop-down filter | Space or Enter |
| Move focus to next item | ↓ or → |
| Move focus to previous item | ↑ or ← |
| Move focus to the first item | Home |
| Move focus to the last item | End |
| With focus on a list item, toggle selection | Space |
| Activate the Apply button, if present | Enter |
| Close drop-down filter, keeping the existing selection | Esc |
Delayed Update of a Multiple Value Drop-Down Filter
Note: Delayed update is not an option for a single selection drop down filter.
If enabled, Cancel and Apply buttons are positioned just below the list of choices within the drop-down. Both buttons become active once a change to the list selection has been made. When active, the Cancel and Apply buttons are added to the Tab and Shift + Tab order of the drop-down filter. With the drop-down filter open, Tab and Shift + Tab are restricted to the controls within the drop-down filter.
Updates to the Tableau graph/table are only made after activating the Apply button. Where a list without delayed updates has no effect on Enter, here it will activate the Apply button. However, Esc is not equal to Cancel. The only way to return the list selection to the currently shown data is to activate the Cancel button.
Search with a Drop-Down Filter
After opening, focus will move to the search edit box, Tab or ↓ will move to the list element. With the drop-down filter open, Tab and Shift + Tab, are restricted to the controls within the drop-down filter, and can be used to return to the search edit box.
Tableau filter search displays a text box where you can type a few characters. All values that match those characters are automatically selected. You can use the asterisk character as a wildcard character. For example, you can type “tab*” to select all values that begin with the letters “tab”. Pattern match is not case sensitive.
With focus within the Search edit box
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move to list | Tab or ↓ |
| Clear search results | Esc |
Search and Delayed Update of a Multiple Value Drop-Down Filter
This filter is a combination of 4 elements: search edit box, list, Cancel button, and Apply button. After opening, focus will move to the search edit box, Tab or ↓ will move to the list element. When searching, press Esc once to clear input. Press Esc again to close the drop-down filter.
Tableau filter search displays a text box where you can type a few characters. All values that match those characters are automatically selected. You can use the asterisk character as a wildcard character. For example, you can type “tab*” to select all values that begin with the letters “tab”. Pattern match is not case sensitive.
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open drop-down filter | Space or Enter |
| Move focus to next control within the filter | Tab or Shift + Tab |
| Close drop-down filter | Esc |
| With focus on the list, move focus to next item | ↓ or → |
| With focus on the list, move focus to previous item | ↑ or ← |
| With focus on the list, move focus to the first item | Home |
| With focus on the list, move focus to the last item | End |
| With focus on the list, toggle list item selection | Space |
| With focus on the Cancel or Apply buttons, activate selection | Space or Enter |
| To clear search results | Esc |
Filter Control Buttons
Click to Show all Values, Search, All values in Database/Only relevant values, Show Quick Filter Context Menu are all filter control buttons. Tableau authors define which are available, but they always appear in the same order. With focus on a filter, Shift + Tab can be used to move keyboard focus to these supporting elements, allowing a faster forward tab experience between Tableau controls. With focus on a filter control button, Space or Enter can be used for activation. When activated, Search toggles an edit box, which is added to the tab cycle.
Show Quick Filter Context Menu and All values in Database/Only relevant values filter control buttons are drop-down menu buttons. They support ↓ or ↑, and Space or Enter to make a menu selection.
Sets
Radio or Checkbox Groups
Also referred to as single or multiple value sets.
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move focus to next item | ↓ or → |
| Move focus to previous item | ↑ or ← |
| Move focus to the first item | Home |
| Move focus to the last item | End |
| Toggle item selection | Space |
| Revert changes to default settings | Esc |
Search
If enabled, a Search button is added as a Filter Control. With focus within the radio or checkbox group Shift + Tab will move focus to the Filter Control buttons. Space or Enter will activate the Search button. Once activated, the Search edit box will be included in the application’s Tab and Shift + Tab order until closed, or the filter is restored to default.
Tableau filter search displays an edit box where you can type a few characters. All values that match those characters are automatically selected. Pattern match is not case sensitive.
With focus within the Search edit box:
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move to list | Tab or ↓ |
| Clear search results | Esc |
| Close search | Esc, Esc |
Drop-Down Sets
With focus on an unopened drop-down set, Esc will restore the default state of the set.
After opening, focus will move to the search edit box. Tab or ↓ will move to the list element. With the drop-down set open, Tab and Shift + Tab are restricted to the controls within the drop-down filter, and can be used to return to the search edit box. Closing the drop-down filter will resume Tab and Shift + Tab between actionable elements within the Tableau dashboard and page.
Tableau search displays a text box where you can type a few characters. All values that match those characters are automatically selected. Pattern match is not case sensitive.
Single Value Drop-Down Set
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open drop-down set | Space or Enter |
| With focus on the list, move focus to next item | ↓ or → |
| With focus on the list, move focus to previous item | ↑ or ← |
| With focus on the list, move focus to the first item | Home |
| With focus on the list, move focus to the last item | End |
| With focus on a list item, activate selection | Space or Enter |
| Close drop-down filter, without changing or making a selection | Esc |
| With focus within the search edit, clear search results | Esc |
Multiple Value Drop-Down Set
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open drop-down filter | Space or Enter |
| With focus on the list, move focus to next item | ↓ or → |
| With focus on the list, move focus to previous item | ↑ or ← |
| With focus on the list, move focus to the first item | Home |
| With focus on the list, move focus to the last item | End |
| With focus on a list item, toggle selection | Space |
| Activate the Apply button, if present | Enter |
| Close drop-down filter, keeping the existing selection | Esc |
| With focus within the search edit, clear search results | Esc |
Filter Control Buttons
Click to Include All Set Values, Search, Show Quick Filter Context Menu are all filter control buttons. Tableau authors define which are available, but they always appear in the same order. With focus on a set control, Shift + Tab can be used to move keyboard focus to these supporting elements, allowing a faster forward tab experience between Tableau controls. With focus on a filter control button, Space or Enter can be used for activation. When activated Search toggles an edit box, which is added to the tab cycle.
Show Quick Filter Context Menu is a drop-down menu button, which supports ↓ or ↑, and Space or Enter to make a menu selection.
Parameters
Compact List
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open drop-down filter | Space |
| Change current selection | ↓ or ↑ |
Note: The drop-down does not need to be opened to change selection.
Slider
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Decrease value | ↓ or ← |
| Increase value | ↑ or → |
Type-In (Float – All Values, String, Date and Time, Integer – All Values and with a Range of Values)
With focus within the input, anything can be typed, but the value will only be accepted if it meets the input’s requirements. If the input is not acceptable, the entered information will be discarded and the previous value will be displayed.
Type-In Parameter controls with a Date Range will round accepted inputs. Values below the minimum will be rounded to the minimum value, while values above the maximum will be rounded to the maximum value.
View Data Window
When a Tableau visualization graph has keyboard focus, press Enter twice. First to enter the visualization and the second time, with focus on the inner visualization, to to open the View Data window to view the underlying data for the graph in a table. View Data launches as a new browser window, which can be closed or navigated away from like any other window. However if you filter the data after opening the View Data window, you must close and reopen the View Data window to view the updated filtered data.
Tab or Shift + Tab are used to move focus to actionable elements on the View Data page, Download all rows as a text file links, Summary/Full data tab control, and Show all columns checkbox.
Tableau Toolbar
The first element on the Tableau toolbar is always the Tableau button. Other buttons will vary based on how the Tableau visualization was authored and by the current state of the visualization. Inactive, grayed-out buttons, are not keyboard focusable.
| What to Do | Keyboard Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move between active buttons on the toolbar | ← or → |
| Activate the selected toolbar button | Space or Enter |
| Return focus to the Tableau button within the toolbar | Shift + Tab |
| Return focus to the first actionable element within the Tableau visualization | Tab |
Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) Instructions
Because Tableau embeds are HTML applications, we have found that some additional navigation instructions are helpful.
Reading text within a Tableau dashboard
With focus on the Tableau Tab control (in this case “SAT Performance of admitted Students”, “Percentage of Students by SAT Decile”, and “Number of Students by SAT Score”), ensure that you are in Browse Mode and then arrow down to read any text included in the dashboard.
Using the Elements List dialog
NVDA’s Elements List dialog is context sensitive. When focus is outside of the Tableau embed, it will expose information about the web page itself. While focus is within the Tableau embedded web application, it will show information pertaining only to the Tableau application.
Approval to reuse
Note: This page has been created with Tableau’s explicit approval and is based off of Tableau’s help documentation Keyboard access for embedded views.
Tableau customers are free to point to this page or use any parts of it as a starting point for their own documentation for their embedded dashboards.
For an example of how to reuse this content, review Equal Entry’s Using SAT Performance of Admitted Students documentation.