Accessibility Issues with Button Control Focus in Canvas App

Applies to Product - Power Apps

What’s happening?
In a Power Apps Canvas App, button controls placed inside a gallery do not receive focus when navigating the app using the Tab key in Play mode. This impacts the accessibility of the app for keyboard users.

Reason:
This may occur when:

• The button control is not correctly ordered in the screen's tab index.
• The control is visually placed at the top but not logically placed in the accessibility hierarchy.
• Focus behavior may work in Edit mode but fail intermittently in Play mode, especially after the app is first loaded or when data sources are refreshed.
•  

1. Check TabIndex for controls
   • Select the button control in the app.
   • In the Properties pane, ensure the TabIndex value is set to a logical sequence (e.g., 0, 1, 2…).
   • Learn more: Set the tab order in a Canvas App (Microsoft Docs)
2. Ensure correct control hierarchy
   • Confirm the button is not inside a container or component that overrides tab behavior.
   • Move the control if necessary or restructure the gallery so that the button is part of the tabbing flow.
3. Test in Play Mode
   • Run the app in Play mode to confirm the behavior.
   • If the focus still does not work, try refreshing the app or closing and reopening the browser tab.
4. Create a minimal reproduction
   • If this persists, build a simplified version of your app with just the gallery and button controls to isolate the behavior.
   • This will help identify whether a specific component or setting is interfering with focus behavior.