Folks whose main job is to fill in a specific UI ought to be(come, swiftly) much, much better at using that UI than Joe Average User.

Sort of like how prior to barcode scanners in cash registers at supermarkets, the person working the till would become familiar using a numeric keypad fast, as well as with the prices of often-bought items.

I’ve worked with “most people”. Ran Workstream (AS 400 based) manufacturing (MRP) system with 200 operators. Every single operator preferred keyboard and DOS-like interface. Management tried to implement a browser based UI and it sucked so much.

There is a time and place for good ol keyboard driven UI. Don’t throw the baby with the whole bathtub.

I’d argue that most modern UI/UX sucks but that’s debatable. But legacy UI is fricking amazing in some cases.

Also: Shift + Tab can be implemented and it would solve your gripe.

WCAG compliant UI can both be intuitive for visual people and support tabbing.

Most modern UI/UX sucks because frontend has no discipline, in that a third the people seem to be random students pulled off the street getting drafted in and another third are backend people getting drafted in, and it's debatable IMO which is worse.