Question: I was intrigued by this statement by [@DanWilson](http://twitter.com/DanWIlson) on Twitter:

> 
> All Web Developers: Never Ever Ever
>  put anything after the password box
>  and before submit button on a form.
>  Tab MUST go directly to submit.
> 
> 
> 

When I asked for clarification, he added:

> 
> because the UI pattern is Username TAB Password TAB Enter Key.
> 
> 
> 

Can anyone point me to evidence that corroborates or contradicts that claim, even if it's anecdotal?

Answer: 
Just think about your own experiences - when you log in to a site, what do you expect to do? Me, I expect to do exactly what Dan said - Username TAB Password TAB enter. I've even seen placed that have "Remember me" functionality maintain this basic concept - On chase.com, to tab to the "remember my username" checkbox, you actually have to tab PAST the submit button to focus on the checkbox. I don't know that I really like that, but it does make the general login much quicker.

One addition I would have to his statement is that on a login page, the initial focus MUST be on the username field. I can't count the number of websites that I go to where focus is improperly set (or not set at all) when a page is first loaded.
For login forms if the design requires something between password and submit, you can still change the tab order so that it skips the bad experience elements when tabbing. See <https://www.bankofamerica.com/> which is somewhat similar. Tabbing goes user/area/submit, continue tabbing to get the link for the checkbox and link.

I think the broader issue (for me) is placing an anti-action element where the action should be. cancel/reset buttons where submit buttons normally are, etc. We are rather automated creatures and rarely read/pay attention to slight changes.