How to set focus in li elements using tabindex - css

Question

I'm using ul to show the navigation bar in my homepage. I want to show a different color to any navigation bar which is focused. How can I do that on element li
Here is my code
<div id="menubar">
<ul id="menu" >
<!-- put class="selected" in the li tag for the selected page - to highlight which page you're on -->
<li tabindex="1"><a href="#" >Home</a></li>
<li tabindex="1" ><a href="#" >Projects</a></li>
<li tabindex="1" ><a href="#" >Publications</a></li>
<li tabindex="1" ><a href="#" >News</a></li>
<li tabindex="1"><a href="#" >Members</a></li>
<li tabindex="1"><a href="#" >Contact Us</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
and style I'm trying is
background: #00C6F0;
But due to some unknown reason I"m unable to do so . Please help

Answer 1

You're overcomplicating your code. There is a <nav> tag in HTML5.
You do not need all those "wrappers" and tabindex is unnecessary too.
a {display:block}
a:focus {background: #00C6F0}
a:nth-child(2):focus {background: #f90}
a:nth-child(3):focus {background: #f99}
a:nth-child(4):focus {background: #f41}
a:nth-child(5):focus {background: #cfa}
a:nth-child(6):focus {background: #afc}
<nav>
Home
Projects
Publications
News
Members
Contact Us
</nav>

Answer 2

If you would like to have different background colours when you tab through the menu vs simply hovering over it, you can use this example here:
The important parts are the
.navbar ul li a[tabindex="1"]:focus {
background: #00C6F0;
}
as these select the individual tab-indexes while they are in focus. If you want all the menu items to have the same colour while tabbing though it, you can remove the tab-indexes 2-7 etc, and just have the selector as .navbar ul li a[tabindex]:focus
.navbar ul li a[tabindex="1"]:focus {
background: #00C6F0;
}
.navbar ul li a[tabindex="2"]:focus {
background: #feca57;
}
.navbar ul li a[tabindex="3"]:focus {
background: #ff6b6b;
}
.navbar ul li a[tabindex="4"]:focus {
background: #48dbfb;
}
.navbar ul li a[tabindex="5"]:focus {
background: #5f27cd;
}
.navbar ul li a[tabindex="6"]:focus {
background: #8395a7;
}
.navbar ul li a[tabindex="7"]:focus {
background: #10ac84;
}
* {
box-sizing: border-box;
}
.navbar {
text-align: center;
margin: 20px 0;
position: relative;
background: #E51573;
}
.navbar ul {
padding: 0;
}
.navbar ul li {
display: inline-block;
line-height: 30px;
font-size: 14px;
text-transform: uppercase;
padding: 0;
-webkit-transition: ease-in-out .15s;
-o-transition: ease-in-out .15s;
transition: ease-in-out .15s;
}
.navbar ul li:hover {
background: #EE2C86;
color: white;
}
.navbar ul li a {
display: inline-block;
color: white;
padding: 5px 9px;
text-decoration: none;
-webkit-transition: ease-in-out .15s;
-o-transition: ease-in-out .15s;
transition: ease-in-out .15s;
width: 100%;
font-weight: bold;
}
.navbar ul li a:hover {
background: #EE2C86;
color: white;
}
.navbar ul li:hover a {
color: white;
}
.navbar ul li a.active {
color: #FFF;
background: #71261F;
}
.navbar ul li:hover ul {
display: block;
}
.navbar ul li ul {
display: none;
position: absolute;
background: #9D9FA2;
padding: 0;
z-index: 200;
}
.navbar ul li ul li {
border: none;
padding: 0;
display: block;
}
.navbar ul li ul li:hover {
border-radius: 0;
}
.navbar ul li ul li:first-child {
border: none;
}
.navbar ul li ul li a {
margin: 5px 0;
color: white;
}
.navbar ul li ul li a:hover {
border-radius: 0;
}
.navbar ul li ul ul {
position: absolute;
left: 200px;
top: 0;
display: none;
}
.navbar ul li li:hover ul {
display: block!important;
}
<div class="navbar">
<ul>
<li><a tabindex="1" href="#">Home</a></li>
<li><a tabindex="2" href="#">Menu2</a>
<ul>
<li>Sub-Menu 1</li>
<li>Sub-Menu2
</ul>
</li>
<li><a tabindex="3" href="#">Menu3</a></li>
<li><a tabindex="4" href="#">Menu4</a></li>
<li><a tabindex="5" href="#">Menu5</a></li>
<li><a tabindex="6" href="#">Menu6</a></li>
<li><a tabindex="7" href="#">Menu7</a></li>
</ul>
</div>

Answer 3

You can try using the CSS :focus selector.
ul#menu li:focus{
background: #00C6F0;
}

Answer 4

This might help you
li a:focus {
background: #00C6F0;
}