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: 
The best tab situation and common situations is:

* input: **email**
* input: **password**
* checkbox: keep me **logged** in *(sometimes this is omitted)*
* button: **submit** (note how you can use the spacebar, faster than enter in some situations)

Proofs:

* Google (unified login)
* Yahoo (unified login, includes Flickr, Delicious)
* Twitter (note also how the visual flow differs from the tab flow to be consistent!)
* Facebook (ibidem)
* Baidu
* Wikipedia
* LinkedIn
* Craiglist
* MySpace
* IMDB

Notable breakers:

* MSN
* eBay

So, with those sites we are including probably most of the world's web users and they are all aligned in the behaviour I've described.
I agree with John. I think that most people press Enter while in the password field (I do), or will click/tap on the Enter button.

However, for the few Windows users that press Tab and then Enter, Dan is right: there shouldn't be anything between the password's edit field and the Enter button.

I singled out Windows users because on the Mac, the default is that pressing Tab takes you to the next edit field or listbox. It will never take you to a button. My apologies to Linux users; I'm not sure about the details there.